Forgotten
by Tara1993
Summary: A car accident causes Dani to lose a year of memories. The last thing she remembers? Kicking Ray out of the house and asking for a divorce. All knowledge of working with the Hawks is gone. Can Nico help her gain back her memories and trust him again? Rated T for some language and adult things, set about a month after 'All the Kings Horses
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't a call he was expecting to get at three o'clock in the morning. TK was doing better after getting out of rehab but he still had his moments. When he realized that it was Matt calling him he figured that's what it was about. Matt sounded upset, and he was beating around the bush and not just coming right out with why he'd called. When he realized Matt was calling from a hospital dread worked its way into his veins. He couldn't deal with another shooting, not right now.

"Matt, just tell me what's wrong alright, it's three in the morning I don't have time for your games," Matt cut him off.

"Nico its Dani, she was in a car accident."

He suddenly felt as if he was under water, things started moving in slow motion, he could barely think straight.

"Where is she?"  
"Look I am sending you the address of the hospital, just get here as soon as you can okay?" He had so many more questions to ask but Matt hung up on him. He was up in an instant, threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater, grabbed his jacket and car keys and was en route to the city in a matter of seconds.

The waiting room was surprisingly empty for three thirty on a Saturday; He saw Matt and TK and walked over to them quickly.

"Is she alright?" TK glanced up at him then turned his attention elsewhere. Matt nodded and Nico was finally able to relax.

"The doctor came out a few minutes ago, she's in surgery now, apparently her appendix burst during the accident, they don't foresee any problems, we just have to wait." Matt told him.

"What exactly happened?" Nico asked, he really wanted to know why she was driving around the city so early in the morning. Matt sighed,

"She had an appointment with TK at his place, it lasted longer than planned, when she was on the way home her car was t-boned by a drunk driver." He explained.

"And what about the other guy?"

"It's being taken care of, don't worry about it right now." Nico sighed, If the man had survived Nico decided he would find out who he was, if anything he'd make him pay for damages and medical bills.

They sat in silence for a while before a nurse came into the waiting room.

"Are you all for Dani Santino?" She asked, the three of them stood up and nodded.

"She's out of surgery now; everything went well, no complications. She should be waking up soon if you'd like to go see her." She turned around and led them down a hallway; she opened the door to her room for them and then went back to work. Matt stepped in first with Nico and TK behind him. Nico stood still as he looked at her, she seemed so small and fragile lying in the hospital bed. Her eyes were closed and machines were beeping around her, tracking her progress. TK slumped in a chair by her bedside and Nico joined him.  
"I am gonna go get some coffee, anyone else want some?" The other two didn't answer.

"Look I know this is my fault." TK said as soon as Matt left.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, turning his attention away from Dani.

"The session was supposed to be at her place but I insisted she come to my place instead, I was the one that kept talking after our time was over, if it wasn't for me she never would have even been in the city today." TK explained quietly.

"Terrence, you didn't do this, it was in no way your fault and I don't want you to blame yourself alright?" Nico told him. TK nodded and smiled.

"Doc's been rubbin off on you, your startin to sound like a therapist." Nico shook his head and looked back at Dani. He took her hand in his gently and closed his eyes. He thought back to a moment a few weeks ago, the night he'd found out Marshall had died. He thought about what he'd said to her that night. That she was the only one who knew him, and she was. He was a secretive person but with Dani he felt like he could let his walls down, she knew things about him no one else did. He sighed and gave her hand a light squeeze. He couldn't lose her, not now. She would wake up and everything would be okay, she'd make some rude comment about the drunk driver, they'd laugh and everything would go back to normal, it had to.

Matt was just stepping back in the room when she started to stir. She gave a groggy moan and squinted her eyes against the light as she woke up; she blinked a few times and looked around.

"Where am I?" She asked quietly.  
"You're in the hospital Dani, your okay." Nico said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dani's eyes widened as she took in her surroundings and the people in her room. Nico could tell instantly that something was wrong. Dani shook her head a few times and then panic crossed her face.

"Who are you?" She asked quietly.

Matt was already in the hallway calling for a doctor.

If Nico had had a heart it would have shattered into a million pieces, as it was he'd given his to Dani, and now it seemed she'd lost track of it.

"Dr. D are you okay?" TK said, stepping up to her bed.

"No, who are you two, where are my kids?" Her voice rose and Nico could tell she was getting agitated and confused.

"Go into the hall Terrence." He told him.

"Tell me where my kids are now!" She shouted as TK left.

"Mrs. Santino, your kids are fine, there on their way here." The doctor said as he stepped into the room.

"It's Miss. Santino now, for your information, my husband and I are getting a divorce." She snapped at the doctor.

"Of course my apologies."  
Nico watched her carefully. She'd told the doctor she was getting a divorce, not that she'd already gotten one. How much time had she lost?"

"Sir I am going to have to ask you to take a seat in the waiting room please." A nurse said as she stepped up behind him.

"I am not leaving her." Nico insisted.

"She'll be fine; the doctor will be out in a few minutes." She insisted. Nico sighed and nodded, he took one last glance at Dani before he left but she didn't even look back.

"What's wrong with her?" TK asked as he paced the waiting room.

"She has amnesia." Nico said.

"How bad?" Matt questioned. Nico shrugged,

"The doctor will know soon enough." He said quietly.

Seconds later the doors flew open and Lindsey and Ray Jay rushed in. Ray Jay stood silently at the door but Lindsey rushed over to Nico and sat down next to him.

"She's okay right?" She asked, tears filling her eyes.

"She's fine Lindsey, a few cuts and bruises but she's alright." Nico told her.

"She's not okay; she doesn't even know who we are!" TK shouted. Nico shot him a look and he shut up.

"What does he mean?" Ray Jay asked.

"Are you all for Dr. Santino?" A doctor asked as he stepped out of a set of double doors.

"Yes, is my mom okay?" Lindsey asked.

"Physically your mom is fine, she had a minor surgery to remove her appendix that burst during the crash but other than that she was very lucky. Mentally however." He stopped and cleared his throat.

"She seems to be suffering from a case of amnesia."  
"How bad?" Ray Jay interrupted.

"The last thing she told me she could remember was finding out that her husband was cheating on her and kicking him out of the house." Lindsey instantly started crying.

"She's lost a whole year?" Matt asked.

"It would seem that way."  
"So what do we do?"

"Unfortunately there's no cure for amnesia, we just have to do our best to try and introduce things that will cause her to remember little bits at a time. Another option I can give you is to try a hypnotherapist, sometimes there able to pull memories out. If you know of anyone I can make a referral."

"Yeah, we know someone." The doctor was clueless and pulled out a pen to take note.

"Her name's Doctor Danielle Santino." Nico told him. The doctor sighed,

"Look, we'll do the best we can for her but unfortunately there's not much we can do about fixing her memory." He told them. "She's calmed down now, she wants to see her kids."  
"Alright." Ray Jay nodded and moved to stand next to the doctor.

"You'll come with us?" Lindsey asked, turning to Nico, he nodded.

"Yeah, come on." Lindsey held onto his hand tightly as the doctor led them down the hallway.

"Dani, your kids are here to see you." He said as he stepped into the room.

Dani smiled and held out her arms, Ray Jay and Lindsey both wrapped her in a hug.

"You okay mom?" Ray Jay asked.

"I am fine baby, don't you worry. Is your aunt Janette here, how did you get here?" She asked. Lindsey and Ray Jay looked at each other quickly. How were they going to explain that Jeanette was pregnant in Barcelona?

"Um, we took a cab mom." Ray Jay said instead. Dani smiled and nodded.

"You were in here before right?" She said, suddenly turning in Nico's direction. He nodded.

"Who are you?" She asked again. Lindsey and Ray Jay turned to watch him answer.

"Nico." He said.

"Oh, and what do you do Nico?" He smiled to himself, this exchange seemed awfully familiar.

"Whatever needs doing." He answered.

"So you're like security for the hospital or something?" She guessed. He smiled and nodded.

"Something like that."

A knock on the door broke her train of thought.

"I am afraid it's time to let Dr. Santino here get some rest." One of the nurses said as she stepped into the room.

"You're more than welcome to come back tomorrow, visiting hours start at 10." She said.

Ray Jay and Lindsey gave their mom one last hug.

"Get a good sleep okay you guys." They nodded quietly and moved to the door.

"Nico." She said, getting his attention. "You'll make sure they get home okay?" He smiled.

"Of course." She nodded then turned her gaze elsewhere.

Nico closed the door behind them and gave the kids the best smile he could.

"She'll be okay." He said. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

The drive was silent, every now and then Lindsey would start to cry, Ray Jay would give her a hug and try his best to calm her down. By the time Nico pulled into their driveway both kids were emotionally numb.

"You're gonna make sure she's okay right?" Lindsey asked.

"I am going to do everything I can to make sure your mom is alright." Nico told her. She nodded.

"Give me your phone." He told her. She pulled it out of her pocket without question and handed it to him.

"If you ever need anything, any time day or night you call me okay?" He handed it back to her after programming his number in. She nodded,

"Thank you."

"Go get some rest; I'll be back tomorrow around nine to take you back to the hospital alright."  
They both nodded then slid out of the car. Nico watched them walk up the drive and into the house. He knew this was going to be hardest on them, how were they going to deal with the fact that their mom had lost a year of their life, not to mention that all of her own memories were gone. He sighed to himself as he pulled back out on the highway. He'd help her find her memories again, he owed her that much.

Dani was restless that night. The hospital bed was uncomfortable, and it was difficult to find a good position to lay in when you have IV needles hooked to your arms. Eventually she gave up trying to sleep and grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. She flipped around the limited amount of channels until she ended up at the news. She was instantly assaulted with images of a car accident; a drunk driver had run a red light and t-boned a car. Her head suddenly started to hurt and as she closed her eyes she started to see flashes, she saw shattered glass, heard car horns going off and people shouting. She quickly turned the TV back off. Something was wrong; those weren't her memories, were they? Her right hand reached out to grab at her cell phone but was met with air; she forgot she wasn't at home. She needed to call someone though, she couldn't remember who. She knew it was someone important, and that if she called him she'd be alright. She just couldn't think of his name, couldn't even remember his face. Suddenly she realized she was crying, why couldn't she remember? She sank down in the bed and let exhaustion pull her under.

* * *

**Alright so, love it, hate it, let me know. I know Nico was a bit out of character but let's think about this, he really loves Dani and now he's kind of lost her so I think he has a right to be slightly OOC. updates will come as frequently as they can. Work will delay me alot but I promise that when I put out a new chapter it will be as good as it can be! :D please forgive any grammer or spelling errors, I am going un beta on this, either way let me know what you think! thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Lindsey and Ray Jay were sitting on the front porch when Nico pulled up the next morning. They slid quietly into his car and Lindsey was asleep within ten minutes.

"She didn't sleep very well last night." Ray Jay explained when he saw Nico glance back at them.

"I don't think any of us did." He said quietly.

Ray Jay looked as if he was going to say something else but instead fell silent.

The hospital was quiet when they arrived. The kids followed Nico to their mom's room and were met with a very large, very imposing man standing outside.

"Lindsey, Ray Jay, this is Xeno, he works for me." The kids nodded in acknowledgment.

"Have you two had breakfast?" Nico asked, they shook their heads.

"Why don't you let Xeno take you to get some food, I'll check on your mom." They didn't answer, just nodded and followed Xeno down the hall. Nico sighed, it looked like the kids were taking this a lot worse than he expected.

As he walked into Danis' room he realized that she already had a visitor and he frowned.

"Nico!" She looked happy to see him at least which made him feel better.

"Good morning Dani."  
"Morning, this is, um," She struggled for a name.

"Matt." He said as he glanced over at Nico.

"Right, Matt, he was telling me about his job with the New York Hawks." Dani said as she passed Nico a smile.

"Oh, so you two know each other?" Nico asked. Danis' face fell and she turned to look at Matt.

"Can I talk to you outside please?" Nico asked, not waiting for Matt to answer he stepped into the hallway. Matt sighed and followed him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nico asked.

"I am talking to her."  
"About things she doesn't remember, you're just going to confuse her." Nico said.

"You can't tell me what to do Nico." Matt said.

"If you have Dani's best interests at heart you'll stop. You'll just confuse her, she won't understand, you have to take it slow." Matt turned to stare at him; he opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted by Lindsey and Ray Jay coming back.

"Can we see our mom now?" Lindsey asked, Nico nodded and followed them through the door.

"Mom!" Dani looked up and smiled as her kids entered the room.

"Hey, how are you guys?" She asked, giving them each a hug."  
"We're fine mom, what about you?" Ray Jay asked.

"I am fine, just ready to go home." She said, giving them a smile.

A doctor stepped into the room and smiled at the crowd.

"Good morning Dani." He said, offering his patient a smile. He grabbed her chart off the bottom of the bed and flipped through it, making some notes.  
"So the way it looks all your vital signs are good, and your stitches are healing well. I know you're ready to go home but we'd like to keep you for today at least, just to make sure everything is alright. What do you say I get your discharge papers ready and you head out tomorrow afternoon?" He asked.

"Sounds wonderful." Dani said with a smile.  
"Great, I'll go get started, if you all will follow me, I'd just like to go over some things." He said to the rest of them.

"We'll be back." Lindsey said, giving her mom another hug. She smiled and nodded and watched them leave.

The doctor led them to a small private room and offered them each a seat.

"Dani is more than ready to head home, physically she's doing fine and she'll be ready to head home tomorrow. There is the issue however with her memory, I think it'd be best if she had someone to watch out for her the first few weeks, make sure she re adjusts okay and try and help her regain some of her memories.

"We can watch her when we're not in school." Ray Jay offered, the doctor nodded.

"That's perfect actually, better that it be someone she know. I'd still like to have someone with her when you two are away though." The Doctor continued.

"Grandma's out of state right now and Aunt Jeanette's out of the country." Ray Jay said, running options through in his head.

"I'll look after her." Matt said, easily volunteering.

"No." Lindsey said quickly, her brother looked over at her.

"Nico said he'd look after her." She protested.

"Linds I am sure Nico has other stuff to do." Matt said, trying to soften the blow.

"No, he doesn't, he's going to look after our mom." Lindsey said, sliding a bit of venom into her voice.

"Excuse me, my sister and I need to have a little chat." Ray Jay said, pulling Lindsey out of her seat and walking out into the hall.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nico promised to take care of her, so that's what he's going to do." Lindsey said simply.

"Linds you can just assume that, besides Matt can do just as good a job I am sure."  
"Matt doesn't want to look after mom, he just wants to brain was her into being his girlfriend."  
"Lindsey!"  
"Well it's true, I am a girl Ray Jay, I see the way he looks at mom, like he can just own her if he wants to. Mom deserves better than that." She said.

"Lindsey you don't even know Nico, how do you know he won't do the same thing?"  
"Because he cares about her."  
"You don't know that." Ray Jay argued.

"Yes I do, Nico cares about her, he wants to protect her, and he's going to watch after mom." She said.

"Fine whatever; just know that I think you're a little crazy." He said, walking back into the room. Lindsey shrugged and followed.

"Lindsey and I have decided that we'd like Nico to watch after our mom when we can't." Ray Jay said as he and Lindsey joined the group. Nico nodded and tried to suppress a smile and Matt's crushed look.

"Whatever works best for you, just make sure you take things slow, if you move to fast you'll only end up confusing her and upsetting her." The three of them nodded, Matt ignored the conversation as he checked his phone.

"Alright, I'll go get started on the discharge papers then." The doctor stood and left the room.

"I've gotta get back to the practice facility, lots to do before the season really kicks off." He said, as he stood and made his way to the door.

"Tell your mom I'll see her soon." He said, smiling at Lindsey and Ray Jay. Lindsey glared at him but Ray Jay nodded.

"If you two want to go back in now you can." Nico said, "I'll be here if you need me." They nodded and left to join their mom again.

It was almost a half hour before Lindsey stepped back into the room; she took a seat next to Nico and stared at him.  
"Yes?" He asked, looking up at her and putting his phone away.  
"Your gonna look after our mom right?" She asked.

"Lindsey I made you a promise, the first thing you should know about me is that I don't lie, ever." She nodded quietly.  
"Ray Jay thinks I am crazy to trust you." Nico shrugged.

"Maybe you are."  
"But I trust you more than I trust Matt."

"Why?"

"Because Matt wasn't any good for mom, way to immature, Ray Jay doesn't see it like that because he just liked having a guy to talk to again but honestly I was happy when they broke up." Nico nodded.

"You're a very smart lady you know that?" He said. She smiled shyly.

"If you wanna go see her now you can, Ray Jay and I decided to give her a break." She said.

"Where's he at?" Nico asked, glancing back to the door, Lindsey shrugged.

"He was talking to Xeno when I left." Nico nodded and stood up,

"I'll be back."  
"Take your time." Lindsey said with a smile.

Dani was staring at her hands absentmindedly when Nico knocked on the door.

"Hey." She said, giving him a small smile.

"So the kids tell me your gonna be keeping an eye on me for a while." She told him as he took a seat next to her.

"That's what they decided." He said.

"Look, um, Nico," She was still struggling with remembering his name. "You don't have to pretend I don't know. The doctors told me what really happened, that I was in a car accident and that I lost about a year's worth of memories." Her voice got quiet.

"I don't even feel like I lost anything, it's just not there anymore."

"Dani its okay, we'll figure it out." He said, trying to offer her support.

"When um," She stuttered and shook her head then pointed to the chair that Matt had been sitting in.

"Matt?" Nico offered.

"Yeah, when Matt was here this morning he was telling me about his job with the Hawks, is that where you work too?" She asked. He nodded but didn't offer any other information.

"Is that where I work?" She questioned, her voice getting shaky. He nodded again.

"God, I just can't remember any of it, it's like someone just hit delete and everything's gone." She shook her head.

"We'll get it back Dani, I promise you." He reached out to take her hand but then thought better of it; this Dani barely knew who he was. This wasn't the same Dani he'd shared a kiss with only a few weeks ago. Suddenly he felt just as confused as he thought she must be. It was like starting over, at least until she got her memories back, and she would, he swore he'd do whatever it took to make her whole again.

She stared at him curiously for a few seconds.  
"But how do I know I can trust you?" She asked quietly. He didn't really have an answer for that. He wanted to tell her that she could but he didn't want to force her to make a judgment call, she had to figure it out on her own.

"I don't lie Dani; you should know that about me." She blinked a few times and then turned her eyes away. She was thinking, thinking deeply by the looks of it.

"I am gonna let you get some rest okay, I'll bring the kids back later." He told her. She didn't look at him but nodded. He sighed and left the room feeling more confused and conflicted than when he'd entered.

Lindsey and Ray Jay were sitting in the small waiting room when Nico returned, their heads were bent together and Lindsey was whispering something Ray Jay wasn't all that happy about. She glanced up at him when he entered and smiled.

"She alright?" Lindsey asked.

"She's okay, just confused." Nico said. He came and sat down across from the two of them.

"Look, I am not really all that great with kids, I just wanted to say that I know it took a lot of trust for you to ask me to watch after your mom, especially since the only time you met me I was busting you for illegal activity." Lindsey smiled

"But I promise that I'll do everything I can to help your mom get her memories back, it's probably going to be really difficult and I am gonna need all the help I can get which is why I wanted to say this in the first place. If you ever have any questions about anything, you can ask me and I'll try and answer as honestly as I can. I want you to trust me, okay?" Lindsey glanced over at Ray Jay who was still thinking.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" He asked. Lindsey punched him in the shoulder. "What!" He said, punching her back.

"It's okay Lindsey. Yes Ray Jay when I was in the Navy I was required to kill a few people, that was a long time ago." He said carefully.  
"What did you do in the Navy?" Ray Jay asked. Nico sighed; he was getting dangerously close to things he couldn't talk about.

"I was a SEAL, I can't tell you any more than that okay." Both kids' eyes widened and Ray Jay let out a quiet, "whoa."

"We trust you Nico, and Ray Jay will cool it with the questions." Lindsey said. Nico smiled and nodded.

"It's alright, your just delving a little too far into 'if I tell you I'd have to kill you' territory." Ray Jay's eyes widened in fear and Lindsey laughed, catching on quickly to Nico sense of humor.

"Very funny." Ray Jay said.

Dani spent the rest of the day having tests done to make sure she was ready to leave the hospital the next day. She walked around the halls for a bit, had her stitches checked a few dozen times and was asked multiple questions which she had to answer in succession and memorize things she then had to repeat back. She passed everything with flying colors and the doctor was finally convinced she was fit to leave.

Lindsey and Ray Jay came back around five to wish her a goodnight and to let her know that they'd be at school tomorrow when she came home but that they'd see her tomorrow evening. Nico was with them and while he kept quiet and stood near the door Dani was acutely aware of his presence and the fact that his eyes never left her.

By nine o'clock she was both mentally and physically exhausted but once again her body refused to calm down enough to let her fall asleep. She kept running through everything she could remember but nowhere was there even the smallest blip of ever working for a pro football team, nor was there even a fuzzy memory of anyone named Nico, or Matt for that matter. She covered her face with her hands and sighed. How was she supposed to go about the next few weeks knowing that she was being watched by someone she didn't know, correction, couldn't remember. She rationalized with herself that she must have known Nico well enough for him to be at the hospital and be taking care of her kids while she couldn't.  
But the thought that kept nagging at her was could she trust him? She barely knew him, and somewhere deep in the back of her mind a little part of her was convinced that she didn't really know him all that well before the accident either. Another part of her mind however kept telling her that she shouldn't worry, that if Nico was around she'd be okay. The thing was she had no idea which voice to trust which only frustrated her even more.  
She closed her eyes once again and attempted to get some sleep, if she was going home with Nico tomorrow she needed to be at least a little bit awake so she could gauge his actions and figure out if she really wanted him hanging around her house for the next few weeks.  
Eventually her mind talked itself out and although she was drained she was finally able to get some sleep.

* * *

**First I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 1, I am so happy to know that the story was recieved well and that your all joining me for this wonderful crazy journey! **  
**Secondly I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am really quite horriable at writing teenagers so I just kind of went off the little we see of Lindsey and Ray Jay together and added a bit of how my own brother and I act, I hope they stayed at least a little in character. **  
**The same goes for Nico, not knowing alot about him makes it hard to put him into this kind of situation because I don't really know how he'd act so I am kind of flying blind but I hope he was at least a little bit believable. **  
**I am working on this story at every chance I get but I can't really promise an update every week, my work schedule changes weekly and that makes it hard to have time to just sit down and work but I am always thinking about plot lines and writing down notes and stuff so hopefully the chapters will be out in a decent ammount of time.  
And last but not least I have to say thank you to JP who was kind enough to make a pretty little book cover for me! :D  
Thanks again for tuning in, let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Dani had nerves all morning. She barely ate any of the breakfast that they brought her, not that it was good anyway, but her stomach was in knots and she couldn't force herself to eat more than toast and jell-o. She kept flipping back and forth between nerves and comfort. At one moment she was scared out of her mind to leave the hospital with a person she barely remembered and the next second she was calm and knew that she could trust him then her mind came up with a million reasons why she couldn't and she was back to being nervous. By two o'clock she was dressed in a pair of sweats a whole size to big for her and a t-shirt that was a size to small. Unfortunately her clothes were cut and ruined in the accident and she'd never be getting them back. She'd signed the papers for her discharge and was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. She jumped a little when the door opened and the doctor walked in.

"Dani, if you're ready to go Nico is here to pick you up." He said. Dani nodded and took a deep breath then stood up and followed the doctor out.

Nico was waiting at the reception desk as Dani walked out; he turned to face her and offered her a small smile. Her heart beat a little faster and she wasn't sure why. She offered a smile back and stepped up beside him.

"You ready to go?" He asked her. She nodded and turned to look at the doctor.

"Feel better Dani, if you ever need anything just give me a call, Nico has my number." He said. She nodded

"Thank you." She said. The doctor smiled and Nico turned to leave, making sure Dani was following him first.

They walked silently out to the parking lot and Nico guided her to his car. She opened the door and curled into the leather seat, tucking her legs under her, she tried to fold herself into as small a ball as possible. Nico recognized her body language; she was scared, broken and trying to hold herself together. He started the car and they set off. Dani was silent most of the way, spinning her hospital band around her wrist and staring out the window.

"Are you going to stay at my house?" She asked when they were a few minutes away from her home.

"Only if you're comfortable with it. If not I can just stay around when the kids are at school." Dani nodded and fell silent for a few more seconds.

"Did I know you well? Before I mean." She asked quietly. He turned his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at her before he diverted his attention back to driving. He wasn't sure what to say, a few weeks ago he was telling her that she knew him better than anyone else but a few weeks ago she knew who he was, today, she didn't.

"Yes." He said simply, deciding not to elaborate further. She nodded and fell silent once again. Dani smiled as they pulled up to her house. The doctor had given her back her purse which held the belongings she had with her at the time of the crash. She pulled out her keys and un hooked her seatbelt before Nico even parked the car. She was out of the car and up to the front door far before he was, she was so eager to be home.

She opened the door and walked in slowly, she knew Nico was following her but she tried not to think about it. She glanced at the living room as she walked by, everything was the same in there, the kitchen hadn't changed, tables and chairs were still in the same place. As she was about to walk into her office something caught her eye. She walked over to the edge of the counter and picked up the empty fishbowl. There were still brightly colored pebbles inside and a small castle sat off to one side. She stared at it for a few seconds and suddenly felt extremely sad but she couldn't quite figure out why.

"I had a fish?" She said, mostly to herself because she'd forgotten that Nico was there, when he answered her she jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Lindsey got it, I think you named him Little Dude, or something like that." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"He got sick a few weeks ago and unfortunately he died a couple days later." He finished. Dani nodded and she felt a few tears come to her eyes.

"He was my friend." Dani said quietly, she remembered it now. She closed her eyes and could picture a little blue fish swimming around in the blender; she had nowhere to put the poor thing at first. She could see herself talking to the little guy as he swam around his bowl. She remembered the night that Lindsey ran into the living room to let her know that he was sick. She remembered getting every medicine known to man to help make him feel better. She remembered falling asleep as she watched him start to swim around again. Something else happened that night but that memory was still fuzzy and she couldn't focus on it, but it passed. Then she remembered coming home to find the poor little fish floating at the top of the bowl, she was heartbroken she could feel it. She'd walked outside and sat on the porch and cried. Her heartbreak started to subside and she knew something important had happened that night, something very important but it was far beyond her reach, she couldn't think of what it was. She shook her head and pushed the memory away and only then did she realize she was crying. She wiped her tears quickly and sat the fishbowl down.

"I remember." She said quietly as she turned to face Nico.

"I remember the fish." She said

Nico stepped in closer to her.

"Are you okay?" He could tell she was overwhelmed, he wanted nothing more than to hold her to take away this pain that these memories were going to cause but he knew he couldn't, not yet.

"I am fine, I just, I didn't expect to be so upset over a fish." She said with a little laugh. She shook her head again and turned to move on. She got to the door of her office and suddenly stopped.

"Dani?" Nico asked. She held her hand up and shook her head. She felt panic, she felt nervous she felt angry. She felt, safe, protected? She was confused. She opened her eyes and walked slowly into the office. She made her way over to her desk and slowly reached her hand out to touch the lamp that sat on her desk. She covered her mouth with her hand trying to suppress a sob.

"What happened in here?" She asked quietly. Nico was silent so she turned to face him.

"What happened Nico?" She asked again, he shook his head.

"It's to much Dani, I can't right now."  
"This is my house, tell me!" She shouted at him. He stepped forward quickly and held her arms tightly as she started to cry.

"Dani, you have to trust me alright. It's safe here, I promise but I can't tell you what happened right now, it's to much to soon." He said carefully. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"It's okay?" She asked quietly.

"I promise you Dani, your office is safe, it's alright to be in here okay." She sighed again and nodded. She wasn't sure why but she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head against his chest. He sighed and closed his eyes and let his arms wrap around her waist gently.

"I am sorry Dani, I know this is difficult for you, I promise I am going to do everything I can to make this less painful." He said.

"It's okay." She told him. "I understand."

He held her for a few more seconds and then moved back.

"Are you hungry, I can get you something to eat?" He asked. She nodded and moved to sit in her chair.

He knew she needed to be alone for a while so he turned to go back into the kitchen and make her something to eat.

He brought her back a sandwich and a glass of water and sat it next to her but she didn't move to eat, in fact she sat silent for the next half hour while he sat across from her.

"I am sorry." She whispered finally.

"Sorry, for what?"  
"For not remembering." She said quietly.

"Dani, it's not your fault and we'll figure this out, I promise."  
"You won't tell me what happened in here." She said. Nico sighed, he wanted to tell her, tell her everything and get it over with but he knew it would only confuse her and he couldn't bear to see her in anymore pain.

"What happened in here is sort of the end of the story; you need to start at the beginning." He explained.

"What's the beginning?"  
He sighed and shook his head.

"Honestly I don't know, I didn't meet you until after you were employed with the Hawks, I don't know how that came about." It was a small lie, he didn't know the exact details of how she was hired, he knew it had something to do with Matt but that was as much as he'd gotten out of Coach and he'd not bothered to dig further.

"Well how did we meet?" She asked instead. He sighed again.

"Nico, please." He really wanted her to figure things out on her own but he could tell she needed a win at this point.

"You had just finished with a patient."

"Someone with the Hawks?" She asked, he nodded.

"Yes, you walked them out and when they pulled away you saw I was parked in your driveway." She smiled and closed her eyes

"You stormed over to the car and tapped on my window, you were actually pretty pissed off." He said with a bit of a smirk. She held a hand up to stop him as the memory took shape in her head.

"You were wearing sunglasses so I didn't recognize you at first." She continued for him.

"When you took them off and I could see your eyes I remembered you. I asked what exactly you did and you evaded so I had to guess. I told you that what happened with my patients had to stay confidential; you said I should explain that to my kids. You drove off when I turned around." She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

"Right?" She needed validation, Nico nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, exactly." She nodded then fell silent again.

"What I said the other day about not knowing if I could trust you, I am sorry." She said after a few minutes.

"It's alright Dani."  
"No, it's not, I should have known that I could trust you, I am sorry." He nodded and offered her a small smile. She looked into his eyes for the first time and she could feel something there. She couldn't name the emotion, it kept evading her but it was something strong, something good, and she wanted desperately to know what it was.

"Lindsey and Ray Jay should be home soon." He said, breaking the connection as he checked his phone.

"Do you want me to stay tonight?" He asked. She had to think for a few seconds.

"No, no that's okay, the kids will be here, I should be alright." She said.

"If you need me you'll call." He said standing and making his way over to the door.

"I will." She said, he nodded and turned to leave.

"Nico." She called after him; he turned to look at her. "Thank you."  
He smiled warmly and closed the door behind him as Ray Jay and Lindsey stepped through the front door.

The kids decided to help with dinner which Dani knew was odd for them but she also knew that they were just trying to help so she gave them each a task and then sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen and watched them cook.

"So did Nico get you home okay?" Lindsey asked as they were finishing eating.

"Yeah, everything was fine." Dani said, Lindsey nodded and jumped slightly as she felt her phone vibrate.

"Lindsey I may have forgotten a few things but I do remember no phones at dinner, please." Dani said.

"Sorry mom." Lindsey quickly checked the message and saw that it was from Nico which she found odd.

_She remembered the fish; maybe she could use another little friend to talk to?_

Lindsey smiled and typed back a quick reply.

_I'll see what I can do._

"Who's that?" Dani asked as she watched Lindsey reply and then put her phone away.

"Nobody." She said easily.

"So Ray Jay and I were talking about getting another fish today." Ray Jay turned to look at his sister,

"What?" He asked. Lindsey shot him a glare and he rolled his eyes.

"What do you think mom?" She asked, turning to face Dani again.

"It doesn't matter to me, if you want another fish that's fine." She said quietly and she turned her gaze to the empty fishbowl on the counter.

"I'll have Ray Jay take me to the pet store tomorrow and we'll pick one up." She said. She could read the look on her moms face pretty easily. She looked lost and confused and Lindsey wished that there was something she could do but she just didn't know what.

"Do you wanna help Ray Jay and I clean up?" She asked. Dani's eyes cleared up and she smiled.  
"Sure why not?" She said.

The three of them washed, dried and put away the dishes and then Lindsey and Ray Jay headed upstairs to do homework.

Dani spent most of the evening sitting in the living room. She'd dumped out the contents of her purse and was going through each and every one trying to figure out if they held clues to her forgotten memories but it was all just normal stuff. The only interesting thing she found was a field pass for the Hawks stadium but that was easily explained away, Nico had told her that she worked for the Hawks so naturally she'd need a field pass.  
She sighed and leaned back on the couch. He head was starting to hurt and her eyes were starting to burn from exhaustion. She grabbed her phone off the coffee table, locked up and made her way upstairs. She checked on the kids who were still finishing up homework and then went to her own room. She washed her face, changed and was sitting on her bed by nine thirty. After debating with herself about what to do she finally lay back on the pillows, turned out the lights and closed her eyes.

Her mind wouldn't quiet, She kept getting broken flashes of what she assumed were memories but they couldn't be put together to form anything coherent. She saw a white hospital room and heard monitors beeping but the person lying in the bed was a blur.  
She heard a screaming crowd and saw flashes of color and something she thought was a gun but she couldn't be sure. She saw herself kissing someone, she almost recognized him but she couldn't be sure. She also realized she felt a lot of heartbreak and anger with that memory.  
Then she heard herself shouting, she wasn't sure at whom and she couldn't make out what she was saying but she suddenly felt scared and confused. The memory faded and she heard rain and she felt like she was in a car but then she was suddenly in a hotel room and as quick as that memory came it disappeared and then she was at home, sitting on the bench outside and she heard someone say her name but when she turned to see who it was she woke up. The memories replayed and replayed every time she closed her eyes and after the fifth time instinct kicked in and she reached over grabbed her phone off the bedside table and sat up.

She sighed and sat the phone down in her lap, who was she going to call at, she glanced over at the clock, three thirty in the morning?  
She shook her head and decided she just needed to get out of bed. She decided to go check on the kids, it was something she hadn't done since they were little but it always gave her a sense of peace and right now that was what she needed.

Lindsey's room was first, she'd fallen asleep with her laptop on. Dani smiled and shook her head as she closed the screen and sat it on her desk so it wouldn't fall if she rolled in her sleep. She pulled the covers up around Lindsey and gave her a kiss then headed down the hall to Ray Jays room. She laughed quietly as she opened the door. Even when Ray Jay was little he was never in tune with the wheatear. If it was cold out, he'd kick all of his covers off, if it was hot out, he'd pull his comforter all the way up to his neck. It was mid November and the chill had set in, Ray Jay had kicked all his covers off the bed. Dani walked over and pulled them back up to cover his legs at least, and then she smiled and gave him a kiss as well and made her way back to her room.

She crawled under her own covers and picked up her phone again. Part of her was just saying go to bed, you'll be fine in the morning. But that part of her that remembered everything, that was hiding just out of sight was shouting at her to turn on the phone and call Nico. She was to tired to argue with it tonight so that's what she did.

The phone only rang twice before he picked up,

"Dani?" At least he was getting sleep, she could tell, his voice was deeper and sounded rough, she wasn't quite sure why that made her heart speed up a little.

"Sorry, I didn't wake you up did I?" She asked.

"No, its fine, is everything alright?" He asked, she could hear sheets moving in the background and she could picture him sitting up in bed, she felt her cheeks go red so she closed her eyes but that only made the image more clear so instead she opened them and tried to think of something that wasn't Nico shirtless in bed.

"Fine I just, I am not sleeping very well and, I don't know, instinct just kind of made me call you." She tried to explain.

"Oh, do you want me to come over?" He asked, she was silent for a while. That hidden part of her was shouting at her again, telling her 'yes, yes, ask him to come over' but she couldn't think of a good reason why and she didn't want to disturb him sleeping.

"No, I'll be alright I just wanted to get my mind off it for a little." She said.

"Bad dreams?" He questioned.

"Just confusing, I think they're pieces of memories but they make no sense to me and every time I think I am close to figuring them out I wake up." She explained.

"It's easier if you try and think of something you're sure of. Maybe if you start with something you know for certain is true your subconscious will flesh out the rest and you'll remember a little bit more." He suggested.  
"Yeah that, that actually sounds like a good idea." She said with a smile.

"Listen I'll um, I'll let you get back to sleep." She added.

"Alright, sleep well Dani, I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

"Night." She hung up and sat still for a while, trying to slow her breathing. Nico did funny things to her heart, she wanted to know why but he'd told her to start with what she knew.

She sat her phone back down on the bedside table and curled up under her sheets. There were very few things she was certain about after today. The one memory she knew was solid was the day she and Nico had first met. So she closed her eyes and started to replay it in her mind. It was still a little fuzzy, the man getting into the car was a blur but everything after that was crystal clear. She replayed it again and again until she was finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

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**Alright, chapter 3! let me know what you guys think. I am finding it very difficult to keep these two away from each other, Nico's instinct to comfort can get very overwhelming at times but hopefully everything seemed okay. Also, I am not sure where the bug was hidden in her office, I remember them standing near her desk and it was under something but I don't know what it was so I just made it a lamp. Reviews are wonderful, stay tuned for the next one! Thanks :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**So a quick note before we get started. This chapter is much longer than the others, for two reasons. One, i couldn't find a good place to split it and two you deserve a long one because i am not sure when the next one will be up. I am kind of in a love hate relationship with this chapter, there are parts I love and parts I am really not happy with but all in all I think it flows nicely with the plot line. And a quick thank you to GrasshopperKnight who gave me the perfect idea for Xeno. Enjoy and let me know what you all think!**

* * *

It was early in the morning when Dani woke up. She wasn't completely rested but she felt better than she did the night before. She could hear movement downstairs so she stood and grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her as she walked downstairs. She was met with the sight of her kids sitting at the island eating while a large bald man stood over her oven and cooked breakfast. Lindsey smiled when she caught sight of her.

"Hey mom, come have breakfast." She said. Dani stepped into the room and the large man walked over to her and extended his hand for her to shake. She did and he smiled.

"Good morning Dr. Santino." She nodded but didn't say anything.

"Oh, sorry, I am Xeno, I work for Nico, he asked me to stop by, he has some stuff to pick up this morning. I hope you don't mind I made breakfast, banana pancakes, you're welcome to have some." He said moving back to the stove top.

"There really good mom you should," Lindsey's voice dropped away as Dani's mind was filled with memories.

She could see herself standing at the back door while she talked to Nico and Xeno, it was nighttime and she could tell that something important was happening but she couldn't hear what they were staying and eventually the memory faded. The next one that filtered in was during the day. She was standing on her back porch and Xeno was handing her a plate of pancakes. She turned around and watched him slide into Nico's car. She waved and Nico smiled at her and her heart warmed.

"You alright Dr. Santino?" She heard Xeno ask. She shook her head and cleared the memory then smiled.

"Fine, thank you." She took a bite of the pancakes and smiled.

"Xeno these are delicious." He smiled and she swore she saw a blush cover his cheeks.

"Thanks."  
"Come on Linds, we gotta get going or we'll be late." Lindsey grabbed her things and smiled.

"Thanks for breakfast Xeno, it was great. Have a good day mom, we'll see you later." Lindsey said giving her mom a hug and a kiss. Ray Jay followed suit and then the two of them left.

"So." Dani said after a few minutes.

"Where did you learn to cook this well?" She asked

Xeno turned from where he stood cleaning dishes.

"My mother was a cook; she owned a small restaurant in the city. She passed away a few years ago though." He said.

"I am sorry."  
"It's alright; she was eighty five when she passed. She lived a full life. I still miss her sometimes but she was the one who taught me to cook so when I miss her I bake. Pancakes were her favorite." Dani smiled as she finished.

"Well, these are some of the best pancakes I've ever had." She said as Xeno took her empty plate.

"Thanks."  
"So what did Nico have to pick up?" She asked.

"Top secret, sorry, he should be here soon though." He told her.

"Why don't you go upstairs and freshen up if you want, I'll clean up." Xeno offered.

"Thank you." He nodded and she headed back upstairs.

Dani took a quick shower, dried her hair and pulled it up, threw on an old pair of jeans and a t shirt and then made her way back downstairs. Xeno had already left it seemed, the kitchen was spotless though and Dani smiled at how kind he'd been.  
A knock on the door drew her attention away and she walked into the front hallway. She opened the door to find Nico standing on the other side.

"Morning." She said.

"Did you sleep alright?" He asked.

"Better after I called you, thanks again." She told him. He nodded and offered her a cup of coffee.

"Ah, thank you." She said, pulling the cup close and taking a few sips.

"I also have something else for you." He said, stepping to the side. She gave him a confused look.

"Dani Santino I can't leave you alone for a second can I?"  
"Jeanette!" Dani smiled and embraced her friend. The three of them stepped into the house and Dani closed the door behind them. She wrapped Jeanette in another hug and then stepped back and looked down at her.

"You're pregnant?" She said quietly.

"Oh, sweetie it's okay that you don't remember."  
"How far along?" Dani asked.

"Almost four months." Jeanette said resting her hand on her stomach.

Dani noticed that at some point Nico had disappeared. She pulled Jeanette into the living room and sat down on the sofa.  
"I am sorry; you'll have to help me remember." She said.

"its alright."  
"Wait, Did Nico bring you over?" She asked quickly.

"Actually," She sighed, "Okay this is gonna be a lot more difficult than I thought." Jeanette said.

"Let's start way back at the beginning shall we? You see I met this guy, Augusto." Jeanette took Dani through her entire romance with Gusto. From meeting him at a wine tasting class to deciding to move to Barcelona with him and then finding out she was pregnant.

"I remember that now, you had just gotten here for the summer when you found out." Dani said.

"Yeah, what a way to start summer vacation right." Jeanette said with a laugh.

"But wait, you flew back to Barcelona right?" Dani asked.

"Yeah, almost three weeks ago."

"Then how did you get here?"  
"Well that's what I wanted to tell you. The other day I got a call from your mystery man, he told me about the accident and about your memory and I offered to call you or skype you or something but he insisted I come visit you, paid for my trip and everything." Jeanette said. Dani smiled

"So I was going to ask if you were being taken care of but I think you'll be alright." She added with a smirk.

"So what does Matt think of all this?" Jeanette asked after a few minutes. Dani shook her head.

"Matt?"

"Yeah, Matt, hunky trainer guy, kind of had an on and off relationship for the past year. You don't remember him?"  
Dani racked her brain for a few seconds.

"There was a guy who came to the hospital who said his name was Matt. Kind of tall, blonde hair?"  
"Yeah, wow, you don't remember him at all?" Jeanette questioned. Dani closed her eyes and tried to remember but she couldn't.

"It's alright sweetie." Jeanette said quietly, wrapping Dani in a hug.

"You said we were in a relationship for a year?" Dani asked.  
"Well, not really. You met a few months after you and Ray got separated. It was kind of a one night stand thing; he helped you get the job with the Hawks. After that it was kind of an on and off thing until about four or five months ago. You finally made it official but you kept saying it was moving to fast and there was the whole thing about him wanting to have kids and you not wanting any more and then there was something about moving in together but that didn't happen and I went ring shopping with him but it didn't really work out and you ended up breaking up." Dani stared at her wide eyed.

"Really?" She asked quietly, Jeanette nodded. Dani took a few minutes to think all that over. She could see a few of those moments in her head. Her and Matt meeting at a bar, she realized that he was the one she'd been kissing last night in her dream. Maybe that was why she felt so angry and disappointed when she remembered it, because they'd broken up.

"What about Nico?" Dani asked.

"You mean tall, dark and mysterious? I don't really know, you never mentioned him to me." Jeanette said.

Dani closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. Now she was thoroughly confused. Not only could she barely remember Matt or Nico but now she found out that she'd had a relationship with Matt. What confused her the most was the entire time Matt was sitting in her hospital room she hadn't felt anything towards him. The second Nico appeared though her heart warmed and she felt safe. So what was her mind trying to tell her?

Dani and Jeanette talked for a few hours, mostly about un important stuff, Jeanette could tell Dani was worn down and she didn't want to overwhelm her. She told her stories about Barcelona and Gustos' restaurant, names they had picked out for the baby and how soon she was going to get to see her aunt Dani. Eventually they moved into the kitchen and made lunch. Dani could tell that Nico was still in the house, she felt his presence like you could feel electric during a lightning storm. He realized Dani needed time with her friend and he was content to let them be for the day but he stayed close just in case.

"When do you have to leave?" Dani asked as she glanced at the clock and saw that it was already almost three.

"Pretty soon actually, I am catching the Red Eye back tonight; it's not exactly good for the baby to be getting so many miles racked up already." She said with a laugh. Dani smiled and nodded.

"But you can call me whenever you know that." Jeanette added.

Dani nodded and winced when her phone started going off.

"Sorry." She pulled it over to her and sighed, "That's my doctor, it'll only take a minute."  
"It's fine go ahead, I am gonna go grab a drink I'll be back." Jeanette stood and made her way to the kitchen as Dani answered the phone.

"So how's she doing?" Nico asked when he saw Jeanette step into the kitchen.

"Alright I guess," She said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and moving to sit next to him.

"I didn't realize she'd forgotten about Matt too, I kind of gave her the abridged version, are you gonna fill her in?" She almost laughed at the look he gave her.

"Okay, so better question, do you think it would be in her best interest to fill her in?" She asked instead.

"I think she has the right to know but as far as I am concerned I am not going to be the one to tell her." Nico said evenly.

"You want Matt to?" He nodded.

"You really don't like him do you?" She said with a laugh.

"I respect Mathew as a person; however I think he's a bit to reckless when it comes to relationships." He told her. She gave him a look and he could tell she wanted him to elaborate further.  
"Weather she wanted to admit it or not at the time I think Matt really hurt her. I think she expected him to be the perfect guy but they had their issues and I don't think the breakup went as smoothly as she expected and then not three weeks later and he's already with someone else." He said. Jeanette's eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

"You didn't hear that from me." He said, giving her a look which she read very clearly.

"I didn't hear anything." She said with a smile.

"But you really think he'll tell her the truth about all that?" Jeanette asked.

"I'd like to think he'd be an adult and tell her the truth but no I think he'll probably embellish it and say whatever he can to get them back together." He said honestly.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked. He gave her a small smile and she nodded.

"Look, I may not know you very well but I've known Dani my whole life. I know what she's thinking probably better than she does and when she asked about you, her eyes lit up and everything. I am not sure what happened between the two of you before the accident but I think you should know that she really trusts you right now, in fact I think I'd be right in saying that she's got some pretty deep feelings for you." She smiled and laid her hand on Nico's.

"In other words I don't think you have anything to worry about with Matt, she trusts you." He nodded and let her move back into the living room with Dani.

A half hour later Jeanette was standing at the door saying goodbye, Nico walked up beside her but she shook her head,

"No, I called a cab, I can get myself to the airport fine, you're needed here." She said giving Nico a light push.

"Behave Dani," She said with a wink. "You'll get through this I know it." She wrapped her in a hug and held on tight. When the cab rolled up the driveway she grabbed her purse and waved goodbye to the two of them.

Dani turned around and smiled up at Nico.

"Thank you for getting her here." She said.  
"I knew you could use some time with your friend, it was no problem." He said. She smiled and held his gaze. She wanted so badly to reach out and touch him it was almost painful. She was to confused right now though. She had such strong feelings for Nico but now Jeanette had told her about Matt so she wasn't really sure where she stood relationship wise and she didn't want to make a bad judgment call.

"The kids will be here soon so I'll head out."  
"You can stay for dinner." She said it so quickly she didn't really have time to think about it. He glanced at her, trying to read her expression and make sure she was really okay with it.

"Alright, if your sure."

"Of course, besides the kids could use some help in the kitchen, there not really great cooks and they won't let me bake yet." She said with a laugh. Nico smiled and followed her into the kitchen.

They sat together at the island to wait for Lindsey and Ray Jay. He asked her about her visit with Jeanette and if she'd remembered anything else. He was happy when he realized that Jeanette had filled in a lot of blanks for her. She could remember meeting Matt and getting the job with the Hawks, she could remember going to games with her family and even something as miniscule as the Hawks charity banquet. Slowly but surely she was getting her memory back. There was still no mention of TK so he had to assume she hadn't figured him out yet and she hadn't said anything to him about Marshall so he knew that was still a missing piece. Unfortunately that was the one he worried about the most. She'd already broken down once over what Marshall did, he knew it would hit her all over again when she finally remembered, it was a moment he wasn't exactly looking forward to.

Lindsey and Ray Jay were home around four, Lindsey was carrying a small plastic bag with her.

"Mom, look!" She walked into the kitchen to find her mom and Nico seated at the island and she smiled.

"We got a new fish." She said, handing the bag over to her mom.

"He's very pretty." Dani said as she watched the small blue and purple beta fish swim around the bag. Lindsey filled up the empty fish bowl and set it in the middle of the island.

"Ray Jay helped pick him out." She said.

"Well you had pretty much already decided I just agreed with your choice." He said.

"What are you going to name him?" Nico asked. Lindsey shrugged and bit her bottom lip.

"I don't know yet, why don't you pick mom." She said.

"Why don't we let him swim around for a while, get to know his personality before we give him a name." She said, the other three nodded and Lindsey set the open bag in the bowl and they watched the little fish swim into his new home.

Dinner was eventful to say the least. Nico finally convinced the kids to let Dani help and then the three of them convinced her to make chicken parmesan. It was a simple recipe and Dani had done it a million times before but never with three other people trying to help. The first thing that surprised her was how serious Nico was about it. His suit coat came off and he rolled his sleeves up, Dani smiled as she watched. The kids didn't exactly know what they were doing but they were content to make a mess as they coated the chicken. Dani had never really cooked with anyone else before. Ray couldn't boil water to save his life so it was never an option. Cooking with Nico, she found to be an enjoyable experience. Every time they bumped into each other or brushed hands Dani could feel sparks and after a half hour she wasn't even trying to avoid it anymore instead she found herself purposely looking for reasons to touch him just to feel it again. At some point Lindsey and Ray Jay disappeared leaving Dani and Nico on their own to finish and clean up.

"So why did we leave them again?" Ray Jay asked as he and Lindsey took a seat in the living room.

"Because they were flirting and we shouldn't be in the middle of it." Lindsey said.

"Wait, what?"

"God you're such a guy Ray Jay."  
"Well yeah but mom wasn't flirting." He told her.

"Yes she was."  
"They were barely talking." He insisted.

"You don't have to talk to flirt." She said, Ray Jay looked completely confused.

"You didn't see the way she kept 'accidently' bumping into him?" She asked, his brow furrowed and he shook his head.

"Or how many times she just conviently happened to brush her hand against his if she was reaching for something?" He shook his head again.

"Wow, how long were you and Olivia together again?" She asked sarcastically, he refused to acknowledge her question.

"Okay so you're telling me mom has a crush on Nico?" Lindsey nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

"For how long?" He asked quietly, sitting down next to his sister.

"Since before the accident." She said

"How do you know?"  
She sighed and glanced over at the door that lead out of the living room, making sure no one was standing watching them.

"You remember the night Little Dude died?" she asked. Ray Jay nodded

"So I heard mom come home that night, it was really late and I was wondering what she was doing out. I waited a while for her to come upstairs but she never did so I decided to go down and check on her to make sure she was okay."  
"And what does any of this have to do with Nico?" Ray Jay interrupted.

"Stop interrupting and I'll get to it." He rolled his eyes and Lindsey continued.  
"So I came down the back steps and I saw mom sitting outside with Nico."  
"So?"  
"I said stop interrupting." She punched him in the arm and he shut up.

"They were hugging and then he said something, I don't know what I couldn't hear, but," She could read the bored expression on her brothers face.

"Oh, jeez, they kissed okay?" She said finally. Something akin to shock or horror crossed Ray Jays face.

"What?" He said it a bit to loudly and Lindsey shushed him.

"What?" He said a bit quieter.

"They kissed." Lindsey said, her smile growing bigger.

"How are you okay with this?" He asked her.

"Because, I trust Nico, he looks after mom; he cares about her, what's so wrong with that?" She asked.

"Nothing I guess, I just, we don't know him that well." He said with a shrug.

"We didn't know Matt that well either." She said.

"Yeah well, look how that turned out." Ray Jay said with a sigh.

"So what are we supposed to do with this information?" He asked Lindsey.

"After the accident mom forgot who he was, so she doesn't remember kissing him. You can tell she still has feelings for him but she's probably just confused about them." Ray Jay shrugged, he still didn't understand.

"Just give them time alone together, she has to realize that Nico really cares for her and then they can be together." She said.

"So we want this to happen?" He asked.

"Of course, mom deserves someone who can look after her and take care of her and who'll always be there when she needs them, that's Nico." Ray Jay sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, whatever." Lindsey smiled and patted her brother on the back.

Dinner was delicious, Lindsey and Ray Jay decided they should take most of the credit because they put the parmesan on the chicken and clearly that was the most important bit. Dani laughed and told them they'd done an excellent job. She told the kids that Jeanette had flown in to see how she was doing and that even though she was already on her way back Jeanette had asked Dani to tell Lindsey and Ray Jay hello and that she hoped they were doing well. Lindsey nodded and smiled knowingly at Nico, not anyone could pull something off that last minute so she knew he'd had something to do with it. He smiled back at her and nodded, reading her thoughts clearly; she mouthed a quick thank you and then asked her mom what all they talked about. After a quick discussion about who was going to Barcelona when the baby was born Lindsey and Ray Jay offered to clean up dinner.

"We'll make sure it all goes back where it came from." Lindsey said as she tried to move Nico and her mom to the back door.

"And then we'll go upstairs and do our homework and be in bed by nine, don't worry about us." She said, offering a sweet smile.

"You two go get some fresh air, have a chat, we'll be fine." She said. Dani gave her daughter a curious glance but decided whatever they were up to it could wait; she was exhausted after making dinner and could use a break.

Lindsey smiled as the back door closed behind Nico,

"Yeah because that wasn't obvious at all." Ray Jay said with a laugh.

"Shut up and wash some dishes." She said, pushing him over to the sink.

"I have another question." Ray Jay said as he started cleaning the plates from dinner.

"How do we know that Nico still feels the same way?" He asked.

"He kissed her." Lindsey said, stressing each word to try and get through to him.

"I know that, but that was like, what, a month ago almost?" Lindsey nodded.

"So how do we know that he still has feelings for her?" She smiled and turned her gaze to the window that looked out on the back porch.

"Just watch." She said.

"Thank you for helping with dinner tonight." Dani said as she took a seat on the steps that led into the back yard.

"No problem, chicken parmesan really is your specialty." He said taking a seat next to her.

"How did you know that?" She asked. He sighed; he'd forgotten that was something she said after she started working with the Hawks.

"You kind of had a big blow out with coach about your credentials when you started working for the Hawks, you started listing off your specialties with therapy and you tossed in chicken parmesan as well, you were being sarcastic." He said with a bit of a smile.

"It got my attention though, no one had ever really mouthed off to coach and gotten away with it before but I think that's why he hired you, he liked that you didn't back down." He added. Dani smiled as the memory slowly started to form in her mind. She could see the big room with all the TV screens a man that she assumed was Coach stood in front of her, she could see Nico off to the side and the person she now knew to be Matt sitting next to her. The words slowly came back to her and she could hear herself talking about lifetime guarantees and washing machines.

"Yeah I was kind of being sarcastic about it." She said with a laugh. Nico smiled at her, glad that she'd remembered so easily.

"Look this whole thing about Matt; I think maybe it'd be best if I talked to him." Dani said after a few minutes, she looked up at Nico to try and gauge his reaction but she found that he'd closed himself off all of a sudden, that was enough of a reaction for her.

"I can bring him over." Nico said quietly.

"No, he doesn't have to come over. I was actually thinking it might be better for me to go to the Hawks, maybe if I walk around I'll remember some more." He smiled again but it was smaller and more reserved this time.

"That sounds like a good idea."

She could tell she'd upset him and she felt horrible about it.

"I didn't mean to,"  
"It's alright Dani, you need to remember everything and Matt is part of that, I understand."  
"You don't like him?" She asked quietly.

"I can't say anything about him, you deserve to make your own opinions or reclaim the ones you already had. I won't force you one way or the other." He said.

She frowned and took his hand in hers.

"It's getting late; I should let you get some sleep." He said, effortlessly changing the subject.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked. He nodded.

"Of course."

"Oh, tell Xeno thanks again for breakfast and that he's welcome to stop by again if he wants." Nico smiled and nodded.

"I'll tell him." He still seamed closed off, Dani didn't want to end the night like this.

"I do trust you Nico." She said. He gave her hand a squeeze and then let go, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, she closed her eyes at his touch and when she opened them again he was gone.

Anger pounded through him the entire way home. He didn't want to leave her but he'd gotten to close. The entire night they'd been to close but he'd been enjoying it because it finally felt like she was back to normal, and then she brought up Matt and he remembered that there were still things she didn't remember, and he was one of them. He'd let himself get to close to soon and now she was probably even more confused. He shouldn't have just left, he should have said something, he slammed the steering wheel with his hands. He'd just wanted so badly to touch her.  
He hated watching her be so confused over everything. He wanted to sit down and tell her everything, every last detail but he knew he couldn't and tonight his emotions had gotten the better of him. She just looked so sad; she was worried about upsetting him by talking about Matt.  
He should have kept his opinions to himself, he'd tried but she could read him so damn easily and that was something he wasn't used to.  
He'd go back tomorrow and he would keep his emotions in check. He would let her meet with Matt, he would let her gain her own opinions and he wouldn't push her. If in the end it turned out that she would decide to go back to Matt then he would be happy for her, he'd forget about his feelings, he'd move on.  
He sighed to himself as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment. Somehow that scenario sounded all to familiar and it wasn't one he was comfortable with, the only thing he'd gained from it was a dead friend, an extremely unhappy Gabrielle and a very confused teenage girl.  
Maybe if she chose Matt he would just leave, he wasn't sure he could stand to be around her, watching her be happy with someone else. He sighed again and tried to shake the thoughts from his head but he could tell he wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

Dani was confused to say the least. She wasn't sure why Nico had left, one second she was almost in bliss because he'd finally touched her and the next she felt cold and lost because he'd just up and left. She walked back into the house which was now dark. The kids had done as promised and cleaned everything up, locked the front door and went upstairs for the night. Dani locked the back door and headed upstairs to join them. She walked slowly to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

"So what do we do now?" Ray Jay asked as he and Lindsey poked their heads out of their rooms.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Why did he leave?" He asked.  
"I don't know." She said again.

"Do you think maybe he doesn't feel the same way anymore?" Ray Jay said.

"Just go to bed Ray Jay, let me think." Lindsey said frustrated.

Ray Jay sighed and closed his door, Lindsey did the same. She sat back on her bed and pulled her phone over to her. She scrolled through the contacts until Nico's name popped up. She wanted to ask, but she didn't think he'd answer her. She shook her head and brought up a new message.

_Is everything okay with you and mom?_

Her finger hovered over the send button for a few minutes before she finally worked up the courage to send the message off. She waited a total of five minutes before her phone vibrated.

_You're very observant you know?_

She wasn't sure what to make of that, was he being serious or sarcastic, she couldn't tell.

_I know._

She sent back. It was the simplest reply she could think of

_I won't lie to you Lindsey, I do have feelings for your mother, but right now she doesn't remember much about me and I won't force her into a relationship because I can't control myself. She'll make her own decisions and until she remembers I will be there to look after her. _

Lindsey smiled, she may not know much about Nico but she did know that he wasn't one to share feelings easily so she felt a bit privileged that he'd opened up to her.

_I am pretty sure mom has feelings for you too; she's just confused about what they are. I don't think you have anything to worry about though, I know my mom and she really likes you._

She gave a short laugh at his reply.

_Goodnight Lindsey_

She typed back quickly,

_Someday you'll have to teach me how to evade conversations; I think you're a master._

She shook her head, she should have known he wouldn't reveal more than necessary.

_You remind me so much of your mother, that's something you should be proud of. Goodnight Lindsey._

She smiled.

_Goodnight Nico._

There was a time a while ago when she would have hated being compared to her mom but she was slowly starting to realize that her mom was an extremely strong person and she was proud that she was so much like her.

She lay back in her bed and closed her eyes. She knew in the end her mom would make the right choice.


	5. Chapter 5

Dani didn't sleep well that night. She continued to have the same dreams over and over, pieces of her memory that she couldn't put together. She'd tried to do what Nico had told her and think of things she knew but it wasn't working. Collectively she might have gotten five or so hours of sleep. By the time she got up, showered and changed, Lindsey and Ray Jay had already left for school. They'd left her a note in the kitchen next to a plate with a delicious looking omelet on it.

_Xeno stopped by to make breakfast saved some for you. Have a good day, see you later. _

_Lindsey and Ray Jay._

She smiled, since when had her kids turned into such smart responsible young adults. She frowned as the thought filtered through her head that it'd probably already happened and she'd witnessed it but just forgot.

She ate the omelet, which was probably the best she'd ever tasted, cleaned her plate and then stood in the middle of the kitchen trying to think of something to do. She glanced at the door to her office. She had things she could do in there, patient files to go through; she had to catch up on a year's worth of therapy apparently.

She walked over to the door and opened it slowly, she was still a little wary about going in. Nico had told her it was safe but something just seemed off and she couldn't place it. She sighed and shook her head then walked inside. Nothing looked out of place, everything seemed fine, she was making it a bigger deal that it needed to be, she decided.

She opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out a stack of client files. She didn't want to sit at the desk to read them though. It was like that corner of the room was off; she didn't want to be anywhere near it. So instead she took the files over and sat down on the floor, her back propped against the sofa. She opened the first folder and smiled, Fey, still having trouble with carb loading as a crutch, she laughed to herself, so maybe not a whole lot had changed.

It was the rest of the files that sent her head spinning.

Griffin Page was next. Dani's heart almost stopped, she knew Griffin Page as a news anchor, but she'd treated him as a patient? She tossed the file down on the floor and opened the next one.

Billy Rhodes, professional race car driver, he joined the pile on the floor and Dani kept going.

Jason Coogan, Tyler Paxton, Cash Carson, Tallis Lang, Phil Kirkman, She didn't know any of these names. She kept tossing files to the floor.

The rest were a blur, she saw Roller derby star, Bull Rider, Spelling Bee champion, Baseball player, Magician. By the time she was finished with all the files she had a mess of twenty or so scattered across the floor and tears rolling down her face.

She didn't know any of these people, none of them, and there were so many. Her breathing started to get uneven,

This was her livelihood, how could she just forget all her patients? She let out a sob and buried her head in her hands.

Nico had been knocking on the front door for almost five minutes and Dani wasn't answering. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and started calling but there was no answer there either. He glanced across the street to make sure no one was watching, the last thing he needed was someone calling the police about a suspicious man lurking around. Everything looked quite so he walked around to the side door and knocked there, but no answer came, he kept calling but she wouldn't pick up. After ten minutes he was on full alert. He walked around to the back of the house and the entrance to her office, this door was open. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her sitting on the floor but then panic took over, she was crying.

"Dani?" He walked up to her slowly, she turned to look at him, her eyes rimmed red from crying, her breathing fast and un even.

"Dani wants wrong?" He knelt down on the floor next to her and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She shook her head and tried to speak but she was crying to hard.

"Okay, calm down, it's alright, take deep breaths okay." He sat down next to her and held her hands in his. She nodded and took a few deep breaths, trying her best to calm down. When her sobs had quieted a bit he tried again.

"What's going on?" He asked, glancing at the mess of files she had tossed about the floor.

"All these people." She said, pointing at the files, her voice was rough from crying.

"I treated them all but I don't remember, I am still treating some of them apparently but I don't know who they are." The sobs started all over again. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Nico squeezed her hands.

"Okay, Dani you need to calm down alright, you're gonna give yourself a panic attack, deep breaths okay." She tried to breathe deep but just sobbed even more.

"Nico this is my life, I can't remember any of this!" She was raising her voice.

'its okay Dani."  
"No it's not okay, I tried to remember, I really did but I can't, nothing comes it's all blank." How she was managing to get words out between her sobs he didn't know.

"We'll figure it out alright."

"I just don't understand why I can't remember." She wouldn't stop crying, tears kept rolling down her cheeks and every time she glanced at the mess on the floor it only made her cry harder.

"Dani," He didn't exactly know what to say.

"Please, help me remember them, please." Her voice cracked and broke and she started crying again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath then pulled her into his arms. Strangely that only made her cry more, but he started running his fingers through her hair and rubbing her back, anything to get her to just breath normally before she hyperventilated and passed out on him. She let out a few more sobs and he moved her so she was sitting in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck her head resting against his chest.

"Dani you have to calm down, I am going to help you but you have to calm down first." She nodded and tried to take a few more deep breaths. He glanced around him at the mess and tried to find a name that looked familiar. Eventually he found someone he knew, he picked up the file and started to read out of it.

"Listen, this one is Jason Coogan alright, I asked you to take him on as a patient, I knew his dad we served together."  
"You were in the army?" She asked, taking a few more deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Navy SEALS but that's not the point, we worked at a restaurant together." She blinked a few times; she could remember him telling her that. They were walking out to the Hawks practice field, it was sunny that day, and he was wearing his sunglasses.

"Okay, I remember that." She said quietly, he wiped a few tears off her face and brushed her hair back.

"Good." He said, "Just close your eyes and listen okay." She nodded and closed her eyes. She listened carefully to Nico read Jason's file. Slowly the memory came back to her.

Jason had wanted her to find his poker tell, he was a professional gambler. She agreed to help but she knew there was something else going on. She could see them playing poker in her office with jellybeans. Then she saw them playing actual poker at a very fancy house somewhere. She saw Jason loosing, she could hear him tell her that he was an awful person. She remembered the night the debt collectors showed up at her house and telling Nico about it the next day, she remembered that conversation very well. He'd told her he was concerned for her safety, he'd touched her arm, she was pretty sure that was the first time they'd touched. She remembered Nico finding out that Jason did have a sister who was in fact alive, contrary to what Jason had told her. She remembered telling Jason that he was a compulsive liar. She remembered helping him tell his fiancé and get treatment.

She felt calmer now, she could remember him. Nico kept reading and she kept listening but eventually the sound of his voice and his steady heartbeat in her ear lulled her off to sleep.

He realized right away that she'd dozed off. He sighed and looked down at her. So much for that promise he made to himself about keeping his emotions in check. He smoothed her hair back and ran his thumb across the tear stains on her cheek. He closed his eyes and shook his head, he shouldn't do this. He leaned down and gently kissed the edge of her mouth.

"I will help you remember Dani, I promise." He whispered.

He picked her up carefully and laid her back on the sofa, draped a blanked across her and sat down in the chair across from her and waited.

Dani awoke to bright light shining through the windows. She groaned and turned her head then wondered why she was laying on the sofa in her office. She opened her eyes to find Nico sitting across from her in the chair she usually sat in; she offered him a small smile.

"You know this is usually the other way around." She'd meant it as a joke but she didn't think it sounded to convincing.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Better I guess, I am sorry about, before." She brushed the hair out of her eyes and watched his reactions carefully.

"It's okay; I was just worried about you." She smiled at him.

"A panic attack right?" She asked as she sat up, he nodded.

"You were just trying to take in to much information at once, I think it overwhelmed you."

"Thank you, for being here." She said quietly.

"Of course. If you're feeling better though you should probably have something to eat, you've been sleeping for a while it's almost two."

"That sounds great." She said. She stretched her arms above her head and didn't miss the look Nico tried to hide as he watched her. She stood and they made their way to the kitchen. She started to rummage about for some food but Nico insisted she sit down and rest and let him make something for her.

"You know it's getting to the point where you'll soon know my kitchen better than I do." Dani said as Nico handed her a sandwich and sat down next to her.

"How long has it been since you've had a decent night's sleep?" Dani stopped mid bite; she was beginning to realize that sometimes it was business first with Nico.

"I don't know, I haven't really slept well since I got home." She said honestly.

"How come?"  
"Just dreams, I keep seeing bits and pieces of things I know I should remember but, I can never piece them together, it happens every night." She said.

"I thought you were sleeping better after we talked that night."

"I was at first but," She stopped short. She shook her head and sat the food down, pushing it away, suddenly she wasn't so hungry.

"I am sorry." Dani said quietly.

"Sorry?" Suddenly he was confused, "What for?"

"Because I feel like there are things I should be remembering about you and I am not. I can see little moments in these dreams I keep having but I can't make sense of them and I know that their important. I feel like before the accident something happened that changed how we see each other and even though you remember, I don't and it's making things difficult and awkward and," Her voice broke and she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Nico moved to sit closer to her.

"Dani,"  
"No." She cleared her throat and started over, "No, I want to remember Nico, I do and I am trying." A few tears fell down her face; he took her hands in his.

"Dani, no one's blaming you, you'll remember at your own pace. And as for us, it's not awkward, I am okay, I am just worried about you." She sighed and glanced up at him, her eyes still shining with tears.

"You don't have to force yourself to remember things Dani, they'll come to you eventually, you need to take care of yourself first and foremost, okay?" She nodded and took a deep breath. This felt safe, and familiar, Nico watching out for her. She could see in his eyes that he cared, whatever personal feelings he had he was putting them aside for her well being. She knew it was something he did often, for her and for other people. She wasn't sure how she knew but she did and right now that was a safe feeling and she held onto it tight.

"I just feel like I am missing something important." She said quietly.

"Dani, you'll figure it out, and I'll help you, we'll do this together okay?" He held her hands tightly in his and looked deep in her eyes. She searched his gaze for something, an emotion, but what she saw she couldn't name. He kept himself too guarded; she'd begun to realize that. He was being open with his words though, he wanted to help her, she knew he would, she knew she could trust him. She reached out a tentative hand and placed it gently on his cheek, it didn't go un noticed that he leaned into her touch a bit.

"Thank you Nico." She said quietly. For a few seconds she saw an emotion pass over his face, peace, and then he took his hands from hers, cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"You said yesterday that you wanted to go to the Hawks facility, I can take you in tomorrow if you're up for it." She nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

They finished eating in silence; Dani glanced at the clock as she helped Nico clean up and realized that the kids would be home soon.

"You're sure it's okay for me to come in tomorrow?" Dani asked as she walked with Nico to the front door.

"I am sure you'll be fine, and if you need me I'll be there." He said, she offered a small smile and nodded.  
"Right, well I'll see you tomorrow then." He nodded and started down the driveway.

"Nico!" She called after him; he turned to look at her.

"Thank you again, for earlier." He smiled and nodded.

"See you tomorrow Dani."

Lindsey and Ray Jay helped Dani make supper, the kids informed her of everything that went on in school that day although to be honest she wasn't all that interested. She kept thinking about tomorrow and what would happen; she was starting to get a little worried.

She helped the kids clean up and then followed them upstairs after, they started in on homework and she forced herself to take a relaxing bath.

She was still on edge from this morning and now she was nervous about tomorrow. The last thing she wanted was to have a panic attack at her place of work.

So the bath wasn't exactly a relaxing one, she'd tried quieting her mind and trying not to think about anything but apparently she wasn't very good at that.

She slipped into her pajamas and checked on the kids who were both already asleep then she walked back to her room, crawled under the covers, closed her eyes and tried to get some rest.

She did sleep, for about an hour and then she was awake again, worrying about tomorrow. She'd toss and turn for a while, fall back asleep for an hour or so and then wake up and repeat the process all over again. By two o'clock she was frustrated; she grabbed her phone off the bedside table and held it in her hands. She wanted to call Nico but she couldn't bear to wake him up again, just because she wasn't getting any sleep didn't mean he shouldn't. She sighed angrily and tossed the phone down next to her on the bed. She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to get back to sleep. She had just about gotten there when her phone started ringing. She opened one eye and peaked over at the stupid thing. The bright screen was lit up and Nico's name was flashing at her. Her brow furrowed in confusion, how did he do that?

"Hello?" She put the phone on speaker and sat it next to her.

"Not sleeping to well?" He asked. She smiled to herself.

"How did you know?" She could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Maybe I know you a little better than you think." She smiled to herself and lay back down.

"Well what about you, you're not sleeping either."

"I am fine, don't worry about me." Dani laughed silently, always evading questions.

"Can I ask you something?" She said instead.

"Sure."  
"Earlier today, when you were reading me that file, you said you knew Jason because you had served with his dad, you said you were in the Navy."  
The other line was quiet for a few seconds.

"I was yes; I was a SEAL for quite a few years." Dani figured that was all he was going to say over it.

"So I guess you're pretty dangerous." She wasn't sure why that was the first thing that came to mind.

"Only if I need to be, that's a part of me that I left behind years ago Dani." She nodded quietly.

"Was it scary?" She felt stupid asking these questions but she was starting to feel tired and her head was a bit fuzzy so she couldn't really be blamed for what was coming out of her mouth.

She thought she heard him laugh.

"Yeah it was pretty scary." She smiled and closed her eyes.

"You never," She trailed off.

"Killed anyone? Not recently." He was making a joke, she smiled and laughed.

"I was required to kill a few people when I was a SEAL, it wasn't something I wanted to do but I didn't have a choice." He said quietly.

"You're very brave." She said after a few minutes of silence.

He listened carefully, her words were coming less frequently, she was falling asleep.

"So are you." He said. He waited about five minutes before he decided she'd fallen asleep.

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I killer case of writers block, paired with work and the holidays didn't give me alot of time to just sit down and think. I know this one was a bit short but hopefully it'll get ya through untill I can post the next chapter. Thanks so much for sticking with me guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

Dani woke early the next morning. She rolled over and smiled at the sight of her phone lying next to her. Last night's conversation with Nico filtered its way through her mind. She knew somewhere deep down that Nico wasn't one to share personal information but that just made last night even more special. She rolled out of bed, showered, did her hair and makeup then stood in front of her closet. She sighed,

"Dress how you want to feel right?" She said to herself. So she picked out something nice, a red silk top and a black pencil skirt, finished off with a pair of her favorite high heeled shoes. She checked herself over in the mirror, nodded and headed downstairs.

The kids were already up and she was a little surprised to see Nico standing with them in the kitchen. They turned to look at her as she walked down the stairs.

"Wow, mom you look great." Lindsey said with a smile. Dani gave a slight smile and pulled self-consciously at the hem of her skirt, suddenly she felt a bit overdressed although the look Nico gave her didn't go un noticed and if he approved then she decided she felt okay.

"Thank you, and shouldn't you two be going?" She said, glancing at the clock. The kids turned and started gathering their things.

"Shoot, okay, have a good day mom, we'll see you later." They each gave her a quick kiss and then headed for the door.

"Bye!" She called after them. She sighed and turned to Nico who offered her a cup of coffee.

"Ready?" He asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said with a shrug. She grabbed her purse and followed him out the door.

The ride to the facility was quiet; Dani was battling her nerves and trying to reason with herself that she'd be fine. Too soon they pulled into a parking space and Nico walked around the car to open her door. He sighed and shook his head as he offered his hand to help her out of the car.

"You're gonna break your neck one day wearing those things." He mumbled. She smiled and laughed and then realized that he was trying to make her feel better. She smiled up at him.

"You'll be fine Dani, and if you need me I'll be here."

"Can I ask you something?" She said as they walked towards the building. He nodded and looked down at her.

"Do they know?" He knew what she meant.

"I was required to tell them something, the players were beginning to ask where you were, I told them you'd had a bit of an accident and that you were recovering."  
"So they don't know about my memory?"  
"The people who needed to know about it do, and trust me it was a select few I know you wouldn't have wanted everyone to know so I only told those who needed to." She nodded and they continued on.

They entered the front hallway and Dani was instantly assaulted with memories. The giant mural on the wall was something she remembered well and she also remembered having quite a few conversations near it, most of them she realized were with Nico.

"Alright?" Nico asked

"Yeah, just, stuff is coming back." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"You'll be alright Dani; this is a good thing okay?" She nodded.

"So I have a few things to do in my office, you think you'll be alright on your own for a bit?" She was quiet for a few seconds but then nodded.

"Yeah I'll be okay."  
"If you need me you can call okay." She nodded again. He gave her hand a quick squeeze and then walked off.

She was a bit nervous about being on her own but she didn't want to look like she needed help constantly, she wanted to do this on her own, so she squared her shoulders and started to make her way into the building.

She realized that the more she walked around the more she was beginning to remember where she was going. She could see the map in her head and when she got to someplace new another piece was added and she knew where she could go she just wasn't sure where the hallways would take her.

Eventually she wandered past the training room and she could hear the whispers start.

"Dr.D!" She turned to find a very tall man rushing towards her; he was wearing an old Hawks jersey so she assumed he had to be a player. He was smiling and when he reached her he wrapped her in a bone crushing hug and lifted her off the ground a bit.

"I was wondering when you'd be back, how ya doin?"  
He set her down and she was able to step back and take him in.

"You were at the hospital before right?" He nodded.

"I know you don't remember, so we'll do introductions." He stuck his hand out for her to shake and she did.

"Terrance King, number 88, wide receiver for the New York Hawks!" A few of the players that were scattered around the room working out erupted into cheers and applause.

"But you can call me T.K." She squinted up at him; she could remember him, sort of.

"You were one of my patients."

"One of, Dr.D I was _the_ patient, the whole reason you were hired by the Hawks was because of moi!" He offered her a smile.

"Not that you should be proud of that T, you couldn't catch the ball and you were causing us to much trouble." Another player shouted.

"Yo, if it wasn't for me there'd be no Dr.D so shut your mouth." Dani smiled, now she remembered.  
T.K. was having trouble catching the ball, which as a wide receiver was kind of what he was paid to do. She was hired to help him.

"Anyway, that's all in the past now, I am once again catching the baby." Dani laughed, oh yes she remembered T.K.

"Well I am sure you've got a million more people to go see so I'll let you go catch up," he wrapped her in another hug.

"It really is good to see you Dr. D I was worried about ya for a while." He said quietly.

"It's nice to see you too Terrance, behave okay." She said.

"I do what a can." He said with a shrug "Catch ya later!" Dani smiled as he walked away.

She was glad she could remember Terrance, she still felt like there were things she was missing about him but at least she knew who he was now and that was better than not knowing.

She continued on through the building, smiling and waving at people she knew remembered her even though she couldn't put names to all their faces. A few more players came up and gave her hugs she had vague recollections of them but she was sure if she saw them a few more times she'd remember who they were.

She knew she was near Nico's office now; she was just about to turn down the hallway leading to it when someone else called out her name. She turned to see a man walking towards her; he had short blonde hair and was a bit taller than her, if she remembered right this was Matt.

"Hey, I didn't know you were coming in today, I didn't see your car." He said as he stopped in front of her.

"Nico drove me in." He nodded.

"So you're feeling better?" He asked.

"Better than before I guess, there's still some things I am kind of fuzzy on but I am doing better."  
"Well that's great, you'll be back to work soon then." He said it more as a statement than a question.

"Well I don't know about soon, maybe in a week or so." Matt nodded.

"Well you look much better." His gaze lingered a bit longer than she would have liked it to.

"Thanks." She said, tugging at the hem of her skirt again.

"We should go out sometime, get some coffee or something, since you're better now."

"Not completely better Matt, I am getting there. And I am not exactly up for going out in public yet."

"Well you're here aren't you?" He said with a bit of a laugh.

"I just came to visit today; Nico and I figured it would help me remember if I came to the place where I work. I am here for a few hours and then I am going back home." She explained.

"Well once you're better I am taking you out for coffee, my treat okay?" She didn't answer, just offered a polite smile. He was about to say something else when his cell phone started ringing.  
"Sorry, just let me get this," He pulled his phone from his pocket and answered it, "Noel, hey, what's going on?"

It was almost like a trigger word and all her memories of Matt came rushing back. Noel was the reporter Matt was cozying up with, at least that's what she could remember. She'd breezed in around the time she and Matt had broken up. She remembered that now too, he wanted kids and she didn't and it wasn't exactly the mutual split she was expecting. He started to not trust her judgment and they only ended up fighting. And now he was trying to take her out for coffee? He hung up the phone and smiled at her.

"So listen Dani I wanted to ask you something, I know before your accident we were kind of on the rocks but I've been thinking lately and I just thought maybe we could give it another go, kind of start fresh ya know, I mean you kind of already have." He laughed, he meant it as a joke, she didn't receive it that way. Her eyes started to fill with tears but she held them at bay, she wouldn't cry in front of him.

"I am sorry Matt but I don't think so, just because I lost my memory doesn't mean I am not going to get it back, I can already remember how cozy you and Noel were after we broke up, you can't pretend you weren't with her, I know you were. And you know what, I don't want to have coffee with you, I'd prefer to never see you again." Matt looked shocked to say the least.

"Dani, you have to let me explain."  
"No, I don't."  
The tears were threatening to fall, she turned and walked down the hall, ignoring Matt calling for her, she turned the corner and ran down to the end of the hall, opened the door to Nico's office and shut it behind her.

As soon as the door closed she let the tears fall. She tried to stifle the sobs but she couldn't, she felt her legs give out but she didn't fall. She opened her eyes to see Nico in front of her, his hands holding her tight. He walked her over to one of the overstuffed leather chairs and sat her down. He didn't talk or ask questions, just wiped her tears and issued comforting words. Eventually she'd calmed down enough that he hoped she could talk.

"What happened?" He asked quietly.

"I ran into Matt. It was fine at first but then he asked me out for coffee and was trying to be nice but then Noel called and I remember her and then I remembered the rest of it. Our breakup, everything but he said since I have a fresh start he wanted to know if we could work things out." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"Like it's convenient that I Just forgot an entire year of my life." She let out another sob and looked up at Nico. She could tell he was furious.

"Listen, I am almost done for the day, you'll stay here with me and then we'll go home okay?" She nodded and watched as he stood and walked back to his desk. He was fuming, she could tell, he probably wanted to hit something but was holding it together for her sake.

She kicked off her shoes and curled up in the chair, content to wait.

About a half hour later Nico woke Dani, she'd fallen asleep waiting for him to finish.

"You ready to go?" She nodded, picked her shoes up and let him help her stand. She was much shorter than him without the heels but she wasn't in the mood to put them back on. He took her hand in his and they left.

Neither said anything on the way out and Dani was glad she didn't see anyone; she knew she probably looked like a mess. They were almost to the front doors when she heard Matt calling after her. Her hand squeezed Nico's a little harder and she let him tuck her against his side.

"Dani will you please just let me explain?" He called.

"Leave her alone Matt." Nico called back.

"You know what Nico; I am getting real tired of you telling me what to do." Matt said. Nico spun around, keeping Dani safe at his side, and started in on Matt.

"I find it disgusting that only a week after you and Dani broke up you'd already fallen in bed with Noel yet you continued to chase after Dani. And I am even more repulsed by the fact that you're using her memory loss as a fresh start. You can be damn sure that I'll be talking with Coach about your future with the team."  
"What are you gonna do Nico, make me disappear?"  
Dani, who'd, kept her head down throughout the conversation, glanced up at this. If looks could kill, Matt would have been six feet under. He'd realized he'd lost the battle with Nico so instead he turned his gaze to her.

"Dani, please." She knew what this was, it was her one last chance, take it or leave it, but she'd already made up her mind. She tucked herself a little closer to Nico and that was answer enough for him. They turned around and kept walking with Matt calling after her. She tried to hold in a sob and she felt Nico squeeze her hand a little tighter. She looked up at him; he was offering her strength, silently telling her it was okay to cry, just not here. And that she only had to be strong for a few more seconds. She took his strength, held her head high and walked out the doors.

Once the doors on Nico's car were closed she let her tears fall silently. Nico kept watch on her out of the corner of his eye. This wasn't the Dani he was used to. The Dani he'd known so well was strong and could hold her own just fine, this Dani was the total opposite. He knew without a doubt that her run in with Matt had set her back and that worried him, she'd been making such good progress. She was silent the rest of the way home, she was trying to rebuild, he knew that. She'd been at such a good place in her recovery and Matt had torn it all down, she was trying very hard to pick up the pieces.

He pulled up into her driveway, put the car in park and took her hand in his.

"Look, I hate to ask you this because I know you have a life of your own and it doesn't involve babysitting me but, could you stay for a little while."  
He saw her glance up at the house, the kids were already home, Ray Jay's green Mini Cooper was parked in the driveway.

"I just don't know if I have enough energy to put on an act for them." She said quietly.

"You don't have to pretend Dani, they'll understand." She looked over at him.

"I'll stay as long as you need me to." To prove his point he cut the engine and took the keys out.

"Thank you." She said with a sigh.

He got out of the car and came around to open the door for her. She grabbed her shoes and her purse and let him help her out. She knew what she was doing this time when she wrapped him in a tight hug. Among trying to thank him for what he'd done today she was also trying to gather some strength from him. He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head gently then smiled and let out a small laugh.

"What?" She asked, pulling back.

"Nothing." He said with a smile, but she knew what he was getting at.

"That's why I wear the shoes." She said simply.

"Because you're so small?" He said with a laugh, she smiled,

"No because the rest of you are so freakishly tall." She shot him a cheeky grin and walked on, this was the Dani he knew well, so at least she wasn't completely gone. He smiled to himself and followed her up to the house. She pulled her keys from her purse and took a deep breath; it was time to put her game face on.

"You'll be fine." Nico said, she nodded and opened the door.

* * *

Lindsey and Ray Jay welcomed her with hugs and asked how her day went, she told them it went fine and Ray Jay was convinced but Lindsey wasn't. She lingered behind as they all walked into the kitchen.

"What happened?" She whispered to Nico.

"Your mother can tell you if she wants, she'll be alright, okay?" Lindsey sighed and nodded.

Dani sat down with Ray Jay and Lindsey and let them tell her about their day. Nico stood to the side and watched, he could tell Dani was exhausted but she was putting on a good show for the kids. She glanced over at him a few times, and once the kids finished talking he tried to persuade her to let them know what happened today.

"So what happened with the Hawks today mom?" Ray Jay asked. She sighed; she'd have to tell them something.

"Well I saw T.K. today. We talked for a while."  
"So you remember him?" Ray Jay questioned.

"Well, I remember who he is and why I took him on as a patient, I know there are still a few things I am missing about him but I'll figure it out."

"Anything else?" Lindsey asked. Dani looked over at her, sometimes her daughter was a little too perceptive.

"I had a bit of a run in with Matt. Long story short it didn't go all that well but I am okay." She offered Lindsey a smile which she returned reluctantly, she still wasn't convinced, she looked over at Nico, she wanted information, she could tell something was off with her mom.

"Look, I am not really in the mood to cook tonight, why don't you guys order pizza, my treat okay?" Dani said.

"Sure!" Ray Jay grabbed a menu from the counter and was flipping through it in seconds asking everyone want they wanted. Lindsey was silent and Dani took notice.

"Lindsey I promise, everything's fine." She said quietly, giving her daughter a quick hug. Lindsey nodded and stole the menu from Ray Jay.

A half hour later the Santino family and Nico were seated around the table eating their pizza. The kids carried most of the conversation, picking back and forth with each other while Dani and Nico ate silently. Lindsey and Ray Jay cleaned up afterwards and then headed upstairs to do their schoolwork. Dani made her way into the living room and slumped down on the sofa, Nico took a seat next to her.

"You did fine." He said quietly.

"Lindsey's not convinced." Dani told him.  
"I know, but she also knows it's your life Dani, she won't pry." Dani knew he was right so she dropped the conversation.

"How are you doing." He asked after a few minutes. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

"I don't know, I just feel more confused now."  
"What are you confused about?" He wanted to try and help her.

"I just, I thought I knew where I stood with Matt, but if he can pull a stunt like that, what's to say that other people aren't lying to me just to make themselves look better. I'd never know, I don't remember anything." He could tell she was close to tears again.

"I'd never lie to you Dani." She turned to look at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I know, I know you wouldn't I trust you." She took his hand in hers to prove her point. She did trust him; he was the only one who'd been honest with her since she got out of the hospital, who'd been there when she needed help. Matt hadn't even bothered to call.

"I just don't want to see him again." She said.

"I'll take care of it okay." Her eyes grew large at his words.

"Nothing dangerous." She pointed an accusing finger at him; he gave her a small smile.

"Nothing dangerous, promise." She nodded.

"Alright." She sighed, "So what now?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I went to the Hawks facility, remembered a few things but I know I am still missing bits so what do I do now?" She questioned. Nico thought for a few minutes.

"As far as I can see it, one of two things. You still have patient files to go through that would help you remember the people you've taken on as clients. Or I could have Terrence come over and you two could sit down and talk, you were right when you said there are a lot of things you still don't remember about him." He knew there was a third choice, at some point she'd have to learn about Marshall and what had happened with him but that was something he wanted to control because he knew it would be one hell of a shock to her and he wanted to be there to help her work out the memory.

Dani thought for a few seconds. Looking through patient files turned out to be a bit dangerous last time and she wasn't in the mood for a second go.

"I guess I can talk to Terrence." She said, he seemed like a good guy, a bit egotistical but what football player wasn't? she was sure nothing dangerous would come from talking to him.

Nico nodded.

"Alright, I'll call him and see when he can come over."

Dani nodded and stifled a yawn.

"You should get to bed." Nico told her, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I am fine." She said quietly. Nico rolled his eyes and let her lean against his shoulder; she'd be out in a few seconds.

"Nico?" He glanced up at the stairs and saw Lindsey standing at the bottom.

"Yeah, come sit down." She walked into the living room and took a seat in front of him.

"Is she okay?" She looked over at her mom who'd fallen asleep.

"She's fine, just tired."  
"What happened today?" Lindsey asked.

"Your mom ran into Matt, he asked her out to coffee and told her since she'd gotten a fresh start he wondered if they could start their relationship over." Nico explained, Lindsey's face contorted into rage.

"Like it's just okay that she only has a fresh start because she lost her memory! That's not a fresh start, she didn't choose for it to happen." She was raising her voice.

"Lindsey it's okay." He reached out and took hold of her hand and she took a deep breath before letting him continue.

"It's alright, I already told your mom I am gonna take care of it."  
"Are you gonna take him out? Or maybe ship him to someplace really nasty where someone else could take him out." Nico laughed and shook his head.

"No, I am not gonna take him out," Lindsey looked disappointed. "I would have but I already promised your mom I wouldn't." She smiled at him.

"You don't have to worry though; I'll make sure he doesn't bother her anymore okay." Lindsey nodded and reached across to give him a hug.

"Thank you Nico." He patted her back gently

"Maybe we should get her upstairs?" Lindsey said, pulling back and looking over at her mom.

"Just show me where her room is." Lindsey nodded and stood up.  
Nico turned a bit and scooped Dani up in his arms then followed Lindsey upstairs and through the first door at the end of the hall.

"You need anything else?" She asked as she opened the door for him.

"No it's alright, you can go to bed, she'll be fine." Lindsey nodded and turned to go but then stopped and turned back.

"Thanks again Nico." He turned to her after he lay Dani down on the bed.

"You're welcome Lindsey, goodnight."  
"Night." She smiled and then made her way back to her room.

Nico turned back to Dani, he hated to wake her up but she was still wearing her clothes from this morning which he knew wouldn't be to comfortable to sleep in and he wasn't exactly prepared to cross the very personal line and change her into her pajamas himself.

"Dani." He whispered her name and tucked a few stray locks of hair behind her ears. She mumbled something he didn't quiet catch and opened her eyes.

"You're still here?" She asked. He smiled,

"You only fell asleep a few minutes ago."  
"Oh, sorry." She rubbed her hands over her eyes and sat up.

"You should probably change before you go back to bed." He said. She glanced down at herself and nodded.

"Yeah, thanks." Her words were a bit slurred; he could tell she was exhausted.

"You think you'll be alright tonight?" He asked. She nodded a few times.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay, you don't, I don't wanna make you stay just to watch me sleep." She stood up and wobbled a bit, he grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"Thanks." Her eyes were drooping and she patted his hands but didn't move away.

"Dani?" He said quietly.

"Yes, change, got it." He smiled to himself; she still made no move to find herself something to change into.

"Where do you keep your pajamas Dani?" He asked, setting her back down on the bed.

"I thought you'd never ask." She said with a laugh, he shook his head and moved to the drawer she was pointing to. He pulled out a red t-shirt and a gray pair of pants and sat them in her lap.

"I'd help you but," He trailed off and Dani laughed.

"You'd have to buy me a drink first." He shook his head and she smiled up at him. He'd never met someone who acted tipsy when they were tired.

"You gonna be able to handle this yourself?" He asked, she turned more serious and nodded.

"Yeah I'll,' She tried to stand up again and he offered his hand to help her, she stepped into his embrace and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'll be fine." She said quietly. He sighed, it would take a little while for her to pull herself back together after today he knew that. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"You'll call if you need me okay?" She nodded against his chest and looked up into his eyes.

"I will." He brushed the hair out of her eyes and let his hand rest against her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"Thank you Nico." She whispered. He bent down and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight Danielle." She smiled and gave his hand a quick squeeze before he left.

* * *

So this one was a bit longer than normal and that's only because it's gonna take me a few weeks to get the next chapter written and posted so I am hoping this will hold you over. Also a quick apology to anyone who's Team Matt, I kind of wrote him like an ass, sorry. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing I am so glad so many of you have stuck with this. Only a few more weeks untill the winter premier! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Dani felt much more rested when she woke up the next morning. The house was quiet and when she glanced at the clock she realized the kids must have already left for school, she'd slept in till almost nine thirty, a feat which was almost unheard of for a single mom of two. She took her time getting a shower, threw on an old pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and made her way downstairs.

"Morning Xeno." She smiled at the man seated at her table.

"Good morning Dr. Santino, there's some breakfast for you in the microwave."

She heated up what looked to be a delicious ham and cheese omelet and then took a seat across from Xeno.

"It's ten o'clock, shouldn't you be on your way to more important things?" Dani asked, taking a bite of her food.

"Nico had a few things to take care of this morning so he asked if I could hold down the fort till he got here." Dani nodded.

"What's he taking care of?" Xeno shrugged.

"Don't know, must be important though if he's not here instead." She gave him a questioning look.

"Only, I know how he's worried about you and making sure you're alright, that's his priority so whatever he's taking care of has to be pretty important."

"Oh." Dani didn't really know what to say to that.

"Anyway, I am sure he'll be here soon." Xeno said with a smile, "Is the omelet okay?" He asked.

Dani smiled, "Perfect."

Nico had just finished talking with Coach. He'd told Dani he would handle the Matt situation and he would. Coach Purnelle had agreed with Nico in that what Matt had said to Dani was wrong. It took a lot of convincing on Nico's part however to get Coach to agree to some kind of punishment. He told Coach that Dani was uncomfortable being around Matt and was worried about how he would react when she came back to work. Coach had given Nico two options, the position Matt was offered in San Francisco last year was still available, Coach could talk to some people and see if he could get Matt moved without to many questions, or Nico could handle the situation himself. Since Nico had promised Dani there would be no dirty work he had to agree to the first option. Nico knew Coach would take care of it with discretion, he had a hard time admitting it but he liked Dani and appreciated her work with the team, Nico knew he'd do whatever it took to keep her out of it as much as possible.

His next stop was the training room to find TK. He was able to catch his eye and call him over without to many people noticing .

"Nico, what's happenin." TK smiled brightly.

"You talked with Dr. Santino yesterday right?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was nice to see her back, she doin alright though, I mean she seemed okay but you know how she can be."  
"She's alright, there was a bit of a misstep yesterday but she'll be okay."  
"Misstep, what happened?"

Nico sighed inwardly, he hadn't meant to say anything.

"It's up to her to tell you if she wants." TK frowned but nodded in understanding.

"She wanted to know if you'd be willing to come over and talk some more, she knows there's still a few things she's missing from the story, she was wondering if you'd be willing to help her fill in the blanks."

"Sure thing, we'll go right now." Nico took in his appearance and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay so maybe we'll go after I shower and change."

It was well after ten thirty when Nico finally arrived, a very enthusiastic TK following behind him. He walked straight into her office and took a seat in one of her chairs, Dani stood just outside the doors. She still wasn't comfortable with going in there.

"It's fine." Nico whispered in her ear. "I'll be out here if you need me." She nodded and took a step inside, closing the door gently behind her.

"So, Nico says you wanna talk, please have a seat Miss. Santino." TK said in what she assumed was his best impression of a therapist. She took a seat opposite him on the sofa.

"You know you're sitting in my seat." She said.

"Not today, today I am giving the advice so I get the chair." He leaned back, making himself comfortable. She smiled and shook her head.

"So what happened yesterday, I heard there was a bit of a bump in the road?" TK asked, falling back into his 'therapist' voice.

Dani was silent for a few minutes; she wasn't sure how to answer.

"It was just a thing with Matt."  
"What kind of thing?" She shrugged.

"I don't know."  
"I don't know means I don't want to tell you." TK smirked at her when she glared at him.

"He insinuated that since I lost my memory it would be okay for us to start our relationship over, since I have no memory of the first time." TK's face fell.

"He did what!" He stood up angrily and started pacing the room.

"What kind of a dude does something like that? That's low Dr. D, real low, you deserve better than that. I mean really, what the hell!"  
"Terrence." He was starting to raise his voice.

"That's bull shit, Matty D's gonna have a little chat with my fist the next time I see him."  
"Terrence!" He stopped and looked at her.  
"I'll deal with it okay, its fine." TK sat back down across from her.

"It's not fine. Look, I know I don't say it but you're a good person Dr. D, I mean you helped me a lot and you helped a lot of the other guys too and you don't deserve that, especially from Matt. Man I thought he was better than that." TK shook his head.

Dani sighed and leaned back against the sofa. "Yeah, so did I."

"I am tellin ya Dr. D, you let me deal with it, or no, better yet, let Nico deal with it, he's good at makin people disappear."  
"No, I already told Nico, no one's disappearing, we'll handle this like adults." TK sighed.

"Whatever you say Doc." He said with a shrug "Anyway, you wanted to talk, what did you want to talk about?"

Dani wasn't really sure where to start.  
"Well, I remember you being my patient, I know I was supposed to help you catch the ball but I feel like there's more to the story."  
"Oh, much more. I mean you did help me catch the ball, I am doin great with that now, but ya know there were a lot of underlying issues as to why I wasn't catching the ball, mostly anger stuff and you helped me figure that out. I was doin really good but then there was the whole shooting incident."  
Dani could see it like a video in her mind, Nico had come to her house to tell her TK had been shot, she remembered being at the hospital, thinking for a brief second that he hadn't made it, but he was alright.

"It was a fan right?" She asked.

"Yeah some crazy SOB from Chicago, but he got his day in court and I am past it now."

She remembered that too, she could see TK on the stand, telling his story, she was so proud of him that day.

"But of course then the real fun started, I was alright for a while but those little white pills became my new best friend."  
She could remember when she realized TK was addicted to the pain meds. Something had been off about him during that interview, and while his drug tests came up clean she knew something was wrong. Matt hadn't believed her, she could remember that, but she also knew that Nico did, he was the one that finally brought the evidence to her, pills, lots of them, and a flush for the drugs so he'd test clean.

"We sent you to rehab." Dani said.

"Yeah, wasn't so happy about it at first, tried to bust out, but you took me back and I stayed, almost forty days sober now."

She could remember the intervention at TK's apartment but for whatever reason everything after that was a blank, she tried to remember TK breaking out but nothing came, it was like her brain had put up a wall between her and those memories.

"That's amazing TK, and I am really glad you're doing well. Thank you for talking to me, it helped a lot."  
"Aint no thing, I am just glad you're doing better, it's tricky when the fixer needs fixed ya know what I mean?" She nodded.

"I do, but I've been able to fill in a lot of the blanks, I think the puzzle of my mind is just about finished." They both smiled.

"Well, I've got practice so I gotta get goin, ya got my number if ya need some more advice." They both stood and made their way to the door.

"Thanks Terrence." He turned back to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You changed my life Dr. D, the least I can do is help you get yours back." He said quietly. She smiled up at him.

"Thank you." He nodded and opened the door.  
"Session complete! The patient is all yours." TK said, falling right back into his usual self.

"Xeno is waiting outside to take you back to the field." Nico said.

"Alright, then I am out, see ya later kiddies, behave now." He saluted Nico and gave Dani a smile then turned to leave.

"So did that help any?" Nico asked.  
"Yeah, a lot actually, I feel a lot more, complete I guess, like I am just about there." He nodded.

"That's good."  
"I know I have to go through those files." Dani said, glancing behind her at the stack on her desk.

"Besides that the only thing I am having trouble remembering are things that I know happened recently."  
"What do you mean?" Nico asked as they took a seat at her table.  
"Well, I remember you finding the pills that TK was taking, I remember you bringing them to me. I remember the intervention we had at TK's apartment but it's like between you finding the pills and the intervention there's a big gap and then after sending TK to rehab I can't remember anything. I tried, but it's just like static, a wall went up and I can't knock it down."

Nico knew that behind those walls were all her memories of Marshall, her office being bugged, everything that had gone on during the time he was missing, and probably that night on the back porch. They were important things, and if that was all she had left to remember, with the exception of flipping through patient files, he knew he would have to tell her, and sometime soon. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair; it wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"We'll figure it out." He said. Dani smiled, he was stressing about something she knew, running you're hand through your hair was a nervous habit, she did the same thing. She couldn't remember ever seeing him do it before now though, she thought hard about it for a few seconds, no there was another time he'd done it, when was that? She was thinking to hard, her head started to hurt. She focused on Nico again, a shorter piece of hair had fallen in his eyes, she reached up and pushed it back, and then she wondered why she'd done that.

"Are you worried about me?" She asked him. His look said he didn't understand.

"This morning Xeno said you were worried about me, that whatever you were doing earlier had to be important because you were to worried about me to leave me alone."

"It's not really like that. I am not worried you'll hurt yourself or something. I am just worried that something will happen to you and I won't be there." She thought about that for a moment.

"You're worried you won't be able to protect me?" Nico sighed.

"I guess, it's complicated."

She'd never felt protected before. Now that she thought about it, Ray wasn't really the protective type, she wasn't really sure now if he was even the loving type. In her brief time with Matt she'd never really felt a sense of safety or protection. He'd made her feel young which was nice for a time but she had to grow up at some point. So why when Nico said that he wanted to protect her did she find that appealing? She was a strong independent woman, why should she need protection? She had to wonder if this was some kind of subconscious thing, she'd been a damsel in distress, lying in a hospital bed with limited memory; Nico had swept in, all prince charming and taken care of her. No, it was deeper than that, a part of her knew that this was how Nico had always been with her, it was probably how he was with everyone he really cared about, he was protective by nature , he wanted to make sure she was safe. She'd never known what that was like but she was finding she was enjoying it; it was nice to be protected.

Eventually Dani convinced Nico to help her go through a few patient files. She didn't really need his help reading them or anything she just wanted him there in case she over did it again. So they both sat in her office, Dani on the floor on the far side of the room, furthest from her desk, she still wasn't comfortable being near it, and Nico sat in the chair across from her. She flipped through patient files and he read the newspaper and it was a comfortable silence. She'd glance up at him every now and then and he'd smile at her and ask if she was okay. She was taking it slow this time, one person at a time and she was okay. She found it was a lot easier to remember than previously when she'd tried to cram all the information in at once.

That was how the kids found them when they got home. Dani had a stack of about ten files next to her that she'd gone through. She was laying on the floor now, her feet propped up on the sofa and a file in her lap.

"Mom, you alright?" Lindsey asked as she stepped into the office. Dani turned to smile at her.

"Hey Linds, yeah I am fine." She sat up and put the file aside. "I didn't hear you guys come in, how was school?"

"Fine, why are you on the floor?" Dani shrugged.

"Easier to spread the files out." She presented it more like a question; Lindsey shook her head and turned to Nico.

"Is she okay?" She asked.

"She's fine." Nico said. Lindsey shrugged.

"Alright, what's for dinner, Ray Jay's starving." She rolled her eyes.  
"And he wants to know if he can go out with some friends tonight." Ray Jay said, stepping up next to his sister.

"Well," Dani started.  
"It's Friday mom, please."

Friday already? Dani shook her head, how had the week gone by so fast.

"I guess that's fine, just be home by eleven!" Ray Jay gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks, I'll eat with the guys, later!" He called, as he rushed out the door.

"So dinner for three then? Nico are you staying?" Lindsey asked. He glanced at Dani who shrugged.

"Sure I'll stay."  
"Great then you can help me make dinner." Lindsey said, turning back to the kitchen.  
"Yes mam." She turned and smirked at him.

"You alright?" He asked Dani.  
"I'll be fine, go ahead." She shooed him into the kitchen.

"You don't have to read them all tonight Dani." He said as he walked to the door.

"I know but I can get through a few more before dinner." She smiled at him and he offered her one back.

"Is she doing better today?" Lindsey asked as she pulled food from the refrigerator.  
"Much better actually, she had a talk with TK and I think that filled in a lot of missing pieces for her." Nico said as he stepped up next to her.

"She seems back to normal." Lindsey said, handing him a pot, "Water and boil." She said pointing to the sink and then the stove.

"There's still a few things she's missing, unfortunately there pieces that are pretty big but hopefully I can help her work through them in the next few days and she should be alright." He explained as he filled the pot with water and sat it on the stove to boil.

"So just like that she has her memories back?" Lindsey asked, a bit disbelieving.

"I know a year seems like a lot and it is but she had a lot of help getting those memories back, having you and you're brother around helped, she's been remembering little things that happened with all of you."  
"She told me yesterday she remembered the court observer coming to talk to us and how annoying it was." Lindsey told him, Nico smiled and shook his head.  
"She won't have everything back, she'll still be remembering little bits and pieces, it could take almost a month or more for her to get everything back but she's remembering the big important stuff and that's just as important." He told her.

"Will you have to stay with her the whole time?" Lindsey asked, she handed him another smaller pot and laid out the few things she needed to re heat her mom's tomato sauce.

"No, I won't have to stay with her through all of that. The first week or so is usually the hardest, trying to get back to normal and remember the important things but she's doing better and she knows that if she ever needs me she can call." He said. Lindsey glanced at him.

"Have you gone through this before?" She asked, he simply smiled at her.

"Right, if I tell you I'd have to kill you."

Dani smiled as she listened to Lindsey and Nico work in the kitchen, both of them were laughing which was a sound she wasn't quiet used to, especially from Nico. She was able to make it though two more files before Lindsey came to tell her dinner was ready.

"Your daughter is a great cook." Nico said as they started eating, it was only spaghetti and meatballs but it was one of Lindsey's favorites.

"She gets it honest, I learned from my mom and she learned from me." Dani said.

"So it's a Santino thing." He said.

"Santino thing, Italian thing, either way." Lindsey said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Besides I didn't really cook anything, just the pasta, mom made the sauce and the meatballs, I just warmed them up."

"Don't sell yourself short Lindsey, you have to start somewhere." Dani said. Lindsey shrugged.

"Nico's a good cook too." She said in defense.

"Well then next time Nico can cook for us." Dani looked at Nico who was a bit confused at how he'd gotten dragged into this conversation.

"Yeah sure." He said quickly.

"So there's gonna be a next time?" Lindsey asked. Dani and Nico looked at each other.

"Don't be so forceful about it mom, you'll scare him off." Lindsey said easily. The three of them laughed.

Lindsey rushed off to do her homework after everything was cleaned up. To be honest she could wait until Sunday to do it but she wanted to give her mom and Nico some time alone.

It was one of those evenings where it was still warm enough to remind Dani of summer even though it was early October so she grabbed a light jacket and took a seat on the porch out back.

"I won't be here tomorrow." Nico said, appearing at the back door.

"Oh." Dani was a bit surprised at how sad that made her feel.

"I have a meeting with some Lawyers." He shook his head and took a seat next to her.  
"Lawyers, what's that about?" It was about Marshalls Will but he couldn't tell her that.

"Just legal stuff with the Hawks, nothing important." She nodded.

"Well, I'll miss your company." She hadn't meant it to sound so needy but that's how it came out.  
"I mean not that you have to be here, you can live your life too, I just meant," He cut her off short.

"I know what you meant Dani." She nodded. How was it that he could make her feel like a teenager? She was a grown adult and she couldn't even have a conversation with this man without feeling like a giddy schoolgirl, she put the thought aside.

"You and Lindsey have gotten pretty close." She commented.

"She's a smart girl; she cares a lot about you." He said.

"She doesn't trust very easy." Dani said.

"I don't think it's that she doesn't trust, it's that she's smart enough to know who to trust and who not to trust." Nico said.

Dani had never thought about it that way before, she nodded and tried to suppress a yawn.

"You should get some sleep." Nico said, standing up and offering her his hand. She let him help her to her feet and then walked back inside.

"I'll keep my phone with me; you'll call me if you need anything." He said as they walked to the front door.

"I will, I promise." Dani said with a smile. He turned to look at her; he didn't say anything just nodded.

"Night Dani."

She had to stand on her toes to reach but she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, she wasn't sure why she'd done it but there it was. She was blushing but Nico wasn't showing any emotion, his face had gone unreadable. She closed her eyes and shook her head, that was a stupid thing to do; now she'd gone and ruined everything.

"Sorry." She said quietly. He took her hands in his and she opened her eyes to look at him. There were small cracks in the walls he'd put up so quickly. He leaned in and kissed her back, his lips lingered on her cheek a lot longer than hers had though and she closed her eyes again.

"Don't be sorry." He said quietly, she nodded but didn't open her eyes, he pulled back and she was just about to open her eyes to see where he'd gone when she felt him press his lips to hers. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds and this time when she opened her eyes he was gone. She blinked a few times trying to clear her head. Had Nico just kissed her, twice? She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair then laughed at herself, now she was stressing.

She felt a bit dazed as she walked upstairs; she changed into her pajamas and walked to Lindsey's room.  
She opened the door and peaked in.

"Goodnight." Dani said. Lindsey glanced at the clock.

"Goodnight? Mom it's only nine, Ray Jay probably won't be home for another two hours." Lindsey could tell something was off.

"He's got a key, he'll be fine." Lindsey gave her mom a look.

"You alright, did Nico leave, should I call him?" She was a bit worried, but her mom smiled when she mentioned Nico and suddenly Lindsey knew why her mom seemed off.

"Oh, um, you know what that's okay, never mind, you get some sleep, I have some stuff to do anyway, I can wait up for Ray Jay." Dani just smiled and nodded then shut the door behind her.

Lindsey grabbed for her phone and typed as quickly as she could.

_I think you broke my mom._

She laughed at his reply.

_I am not taking responsibility for that._

_She came into my room completely dazed, she doesn't even want to wait up for Ray Jay, and she always waits up for Ray Jay. If you kissing her means she forgets to be a controlling parent maybe you have to do that more often._

_Sorry, I only use my powers for good not evil. _

Lindsey laughed a little to loudly and quickly covered her mouth, she didn't want to bother her mom.

_Well either way, it's about damn time. _

_:) _

No reply, just a smile. Lindsey rolled her eyes and tossed her phone aside.

* * *

**So this one took longer than I wanted but I was fighting a cold so hopefully this all flows nicely like I had wanted it to. Also, Nico texting, and maybe boasting about how great his kissing is, yeah, probably out of character but ya know what, he probably is a damn good kisser so he's allowed to brag a little. We're getting to the end of the story now, depending on how I play it out there's about a chapter or two left. I hope you enjoyed this one, it was fun to write! **

**And how bout that premier last night! another excellent job by the cast and crew, loved it! **

**Let me know what ya think, reviews are lovely and they keep me goin. Thanks for sticking with me everyone!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Quick note at the beginning! This came out a lot faster than I had planned so I decided to put it out early! :D That said however this is a pretty long one and while I am not compleatly happy with the end product I feel that after quite a few rough drafts this was the best. I am hoping none of this comes across as over dramatic, every story has a climax and this chapter is ours but hopefully none of it comes across as out of character or to dramatic. Next chapter will be the last unless something randomly comes to me between now and then. So sit back and relax, this one's a bit of a doozy.**

* * *

Lindsey and Ray Jay let Dani sleep late the next day, there was nowhere for them to go and the kids were happy to take care of themselves for a little while. It was almost ten when Dani finally made her way downstairs.

"Morning mom!" Lindsey called from the living room.

"Morning." She called back.

Lindsey slapped Ray Jay on the arm and the two of them abandoned their Saturday morning TV to follow their mom into the kitchen.

"So did you sleep well?" Lindsey started.

"You were already asleep when I got home last night, and I was home, right on time." Ray Jay said.

"He was a few minutes late but I knew you'd take care of it."

"It was a few minutes Linds, not a big deal."  
"Mom said eleven; it was five after when you got home."  
Dani shut the door to the refrigerator and smiled at the two of them.

"What's for breakfast?" She asked, stepping over to the cupboard to find herself a glass for her orange juice.

Lindsey and Ray Jay exchanged a look.

"Um, we already ate but we can make you something if you want." She waved her hand at them as she finished her drink.

"We should go out for breakfast."

"It's like ten fifteen mom, and we already ate, you wanna go out now?" Ray Jay asked, Dani nodded and smiled.

"Sure, why not?" The kids looked at each other again; Lindsey passed Ray Jay a look that he could read pretty clearly.

"Um, ya know I think I left the TV on, I'll be right back." He dashed out of the room and Lindsey took a seat at the Island.

"Mom are you alright?" She asked.

"Fine sweetie, why?"  
Lindsey sighed, this was kind of an awkward conversation to have with your mother but Dani had been on some kind of Nico high last night and clearly it hadn't worn off quite yet, Lindsey was starting to get a little worried.

"Nico kissed you last night didn't he?" She decided to get straight to the point, she watched her moms eyes clear up instantly as she turned her gaze on her daughter.

"Not something you need to worry about." She said, the dreamy edge was gone from her voice now.

"Mom, you're acting a little strange, you always tell me that I can talk to you about stuff like this and well, the same holds true for you, if you wanna talk." Dani stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed and sat down next to her.

"I feel like an idiot." She said, burying her head in her hands.

"Why?" Lindsey asked.

"Because, I am walking around on cloud nine over a kiss that lasted like two seconds, I mean it wasn't even technically a kiss." Her words were muffled but Lindsey could tell her mom was back to normal now.

"So you've got a crush on Nico, I am sure you're not the first." Dani rolled her head to the side and stared at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lindsey sighed.

"Well come on mom, he's, well he's a good looking guy, right, I mean, I am sure, other girls, women have, ya know," She was starting to stutter so she trailed off. Dani squinted at her, then opened her mouth in complete shock,

"Lindsey Santino, do you have a crush on Nico?" Lindsey's eyes grew wide.

"What! No, ew mom, he could be my dad, which is kind of how I think of him, a mature male role model, not a crush." Dani squinted at her again.

"Mom I swear I do not have a crush on him, he's all yours." Dani sighed and shook her head.  
"I am acting like such a child around him it's ridiculous."

"Like I said you have a crush."  
"Lindsey I was married to your father for almost sixteen years, I do not 'crush' on anyone, I am an adult." It was Lindsey's turn to squint now.

"Mom anyone can have a crush. And think about it, you were married to dad for a long time, and then you kind of fell into that relationship with Matt, you've never really been with anyone else. It's probably completely logical for you to feel giddy and silly around Nico, especially if you really like him." Dani stared at Lindsey for a few seconds.

"Have you been stealing my psychology books?" Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"Its common sense mom, you like Nico, a lot, he kissed you, maybe it wasn't a total make out session but he kissed you, that's validation that he likes you too, you have every right to be on cloud nine." Dani nodded.

"Your right, I just don't wanna screw anything up, I mean, there are still things I don't remember, moments before the accident that I know have to do with Nico that I just can't get to. Maybe those are bad memories; maybe before the accident I didn't have those kinds of feelings for Nico." Lindsey smiled to herself.

"You'll figure it out mom, don't think so much with your brain and your memories, think with your heart." Dani smiled and wrapped Lindsey in a hug.

"I love you, you know that."  
"I do. Now, do you still wanna go out to eat?" She asked. Dani laughed,

"No, I think I'll manage just fine." Lindsey nodded, gave her mom one last hug and then re joined Ray Jay in the living room.

It had been a long time since Dani had gotten to spend a quiet weekend home with the kids. She felt confident that she could remember that and know it was true. Very slowly bits of memory of the last year with Lindsey and Ray Jay were starting to come back. She could remember that usually on weekends the kids were out with friends or she was involved in some crazy situation with the Hawks or another patient. She wasn't sure if Lindsey and Ray Jay were staying home today just to keep an eye on her or if it was because they really didn't have plans but either way she was determined to enjoy the day.

After she ate breakfast she joined the kids and watched some TV until around one o'clock when they decided it was time for lunch. The kids cooked and the three of them sat at the table to eat and actually had a conversation about school and their friends that didn't end in a shouting match which made Dani very happy.

Lindsey and Ray Jay retreated to their rooms for a bit and Dani opened the door to her office once again. There were still a few patient files for her to go through. She walked slowly to the center of the room and stared at her desk. She sighed to herself, rested her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side a bit. It was getting to be increasingly frustrating that she couldn't figure out what was off with that corner of the room. She wasn't comfortable sitting near the desk and she really didn't want to stand anywhere near it to be honest.

She shook her head and turned away from it, resuming her spot from yesterday, on the floor propped against the sofa, as far away from the desk as she could get while still being able to be comfortable as she did her work. She really did want to be in her office and she was trying to move past the feeling that corner was giving her but she knew it was going to take a while.

She lost track of time pretty quickly one minute she was glancing through a file and finding that it was only two in the afternoon and that she had plenty of time and the next minute it was almost six and she only had two more files left in her pile. She stared at them for a few seconds and decided to pick the one on the very bottom first. She opened it up and smiled, this was TK's file. She skimmed through it just to make sure everything he'd told her yesterday was true and that she wasn't missing anything. He really had gone to rehab, she had entries that were dated a few days before her accident with marks saying that he was making good progress and was continuing his commitment to the rehabilitation program. She closed the file and set it next to her then picked up the last one and opened it.

Tennis players, doubles players, engaged tennis players.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember them.

Bits and pieces floated back, she remembered that they were swingers, she'd reluctantly agreed to go to a party with them and it hadn't turned out all that well. She opened her eyes and continued to go through her notes and then she found one that confused her.

Usually she met with clients at her office, on rare occasions she'd do a session with them at the place they worked if they asked her, but she couldn't remember ever giving a session at her patient's house. But for some reason she had marked that her last few sessions with them took place at their residence, but she couldn't remember why. She closed her eyes again and tried to focus, but nothing happened. She pushed a little harder, something had to be there but it was blank, a brick wall. She sighed and opened her eyes. It seemed like such an un important detail, so why couldn't she remember it? Her gaze shifted to her desk again and she got a bad feeling in her gut. Did it have something to do with that, with whatever was making her wary of that corner of her room? She shook her head and tossed the file aside, she wasn't going to worry about it today.

"Mom, should we get dinner started?" Ray Jay was standing at the door to her office; she looked over at the clock, six thirty, where had the time gone?

"Yeah, I'll be right there." She smiled and he nodded.

Dani collected the files into a neat stack then stood and walked over to her desk. She sat the files down on it and then purposely stood next to it for a few more seconds. She reached out to touch the lamp but then thought better of it and pulled her hand away. Something serious had happened here, she'd figure out what it was, but not anymore tonight, she was going to enjoy the rest of the evening with her kids and she'd worry about her aversion of her desk some other time. She walked out of her office, turned off the light and closed the door behind her.

Dani, Lindsey and Ray Jay all worked together to make dinner that evening. Dani had begun to realize that the kids ate more when there were involved in the process of making it. They were also nice enough to help her clean and put away the dishes after they were done and then they retreated to the living room again.

"I am just saying their right is all, if they think the Hawks are gonna survive the rest of the season they need to sell to someone and fast." Ray Jay commented. He'd turned on ESPN and was sitting with Lindsey on the sofa, both of them strangely invested in the recent news over the Hawks.

"I just don't see why that matters; it's about the football right?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah but no one's gonna take a team without an owner seriously, especially when their previous owner was that guy." Ray Jay pointed to the picture of Marshall Pittman that was flashing across the screen.

"So he was a little weird, so what?"  
"A little weird, the dude drove his plane into the ocean, that's more than a little weird." Ray Jay said. Lindsey shrugged and sat back, suddenly more interested in her phone.

"So are we watching a movie or what?" Lindsey smiled as her mom walked into the room.

"Yeah once Ray Jay's done watching this snooze fest." Lindsey said, nodding to the TV.

"Not a snooze fest, factual information." Ray Jay pointed out, Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" Dani turned to the TV.

"It's just ESPN, I am only interested because their talking about who they thinks gonna take control of the Hawks, Lindsey's just being…."  
Dani felt like her heart had stopped.

Her kids voices had faded into the background, she could hear the blood rushing through her ears.

Marshall Pittman.

That was the name flashing under the man's picture. He was smiling, bald, maybe forty five or so.

It was like being hit by a train.

She remembered that man. He'd been in her house; he'd been in her office. God her office, that was why she didn't want to go in there, he'd bugged her office.

She knew she was breathing faster, somewhere in the background she could hear Lindsey and Ray Jay calling her name.

He'd bugged her office, He recorded countless sessions with her patients, there were tapes, Nico told her that. He'd found copies but Marshall kept the originals. But then Marshall went missing.

"Mom, mom, Turn the TV off Ray Jay, Mom?" Ray Jay flipped the TV off but Dani remained still.

She'd gone with Nico to find him, he'd taken her to some hotel, it had been raining, it was the middle of the night, he'd shouted at her. He'd told her about Marshall, about the war, about how he'd been caught and Marshall had saved his life. They'd waited at that damn hotel for hours and Marshall never showed up. Then who the hell had those tapes? That news broadcast said Marshall Pittman was deceased. Her vision was going cloudy, memories kept running through her head, like someone had put a tape on fast forward. Everything, TK escaping rehab, showing up at her house, she was going to pass out. She tried to reach for something to steady herself on but it was too late, her vision went black and so did the memories.

"Mom!" Ray Jay jumped up just in time to catch her before she fell. He dropped to the floor with her but broke her fall.

"Call 911." He shouted at Lindsey

"No, I am calling Nico, he should get here first." She grabbed for her phone and with shaking hands found his number and hit send.

"Lindsey,"  
"Mom passed out." She cut him off right away, this was serious now.

"Wait, what happened?"  
"I don't know, she was fine all day, she came into the living room and she just passed out."  
"Alright I am on my way, is she hurt?"  
"I don't think so no, Ray Jay grabbed her before she hit the floor, he took most of the brunt from the fall."  
"Okay, don't move her, get a glass of water in case she wakes up before I get there alright."  
"Yeah, how soon will that be?" Her voice wavered and broke.

"I am already on the road, I'll go as quickly as I can, it's gonna be okay Lindsey, she'll be fine." Lindsey nodded.

"Yeah, alright."

"Go get a glass of water, tell Ray Jay not to move her, I am on the way." He hung up and she let a few tears drop.

"He says, he says not to move her, I am gonna get some water for her if she wakes up." Ray Jay nodded and watched his sister walk into the kitchen and emerge a few seconds later with a glass of water, her hands were shaking. She knelt down beside him and grabbed her mom's hand.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay Linds, she's not hurt, she probably just over worked herself today." He wasn't sure if he was saying it more for his benefit or Lindsey's but she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah you're right." But neither one believed it.

The silence almost felt crushing for the Santino kids. Lindsey continued to check her phone every few seconds although she knew Nico wasn't going to call back, he was concerned with getting here as quick as he could. Ray Jay was struggling to keep his legs from going numb, while his mom wasn't exactly heavy they had landed in an uncomfortable heap on the floor and the position his legs were bent in weren't exactly great for circulation. It felt like hours, Ray Jay knew it was only maybe ten or fifteen minutes but Lindsey was anxious and the more she checked the time the more anxious it made Ray Jay. Finally they heard a car door slam out front and Lindsey was up and to the front door in a flash. She came back seconds later with Nico following close behind.

"I need you to tell me what happened exactly." He said as he knelt down next to Dani. His voice was calm but Ray Jay could read worry on his face very clearly and that scared him, if he knew nothing else about Nico he knew that he was strong, un wavering, he was a SEAL for god's sake, the fact that he was worried about his mom, made him worry, and practically caused Lindsey to have a fit, she was pacing back and forth behind him.

"Lindsey and I were watching TV, mom came in and asked if we were going to watch a movie, I told her we would in a second, she asked what I was watching and I started to explain to her. When I looked over again she'd gone totally white, like not just pale but white and she wasn't hearing anything we were saying, I shut off the TV and we kept calling her name but she wouldn't answer. She went to reach out for something like she knew she was gonna fall but she didn't catch it in time and I grabbed her just before she fell." Ray Jay took a deep breath and watched as Nico checked his mom over.

He knew enough from watching cop shows on TV to know that Nico was most concerned with her pulse. He had two fingers placed on the inside of her wrist and was leaning close to her nose and mouth to try and hear her breath. When he was satisfied with that he moved to check her limbs to make sure she hadn't broken anything.

"You broke her fall?" He asked.

"I grabbed her as quick as I could, her head might have bumped my shoulder but she didn't hit anything." Nico nodded.

"She's not hurt, nothing looks broken and if you say you broke her fall I believe you so we're okay to move her, she's breathing and her pulse is fine so right now I'd say she's just passed out."  
"But that's still bad right?" Lindsey spoke up for the first time.

"Not bad per say, We'd all like her to be awake and alert but there's no sign of injury or that her body has gone into shock so the fact that she's just passed out is okay right now. Ray Jay, help me get her upstairs." Ray Jay maneuvered his mom into Nico's arms and then led the way upstairs. Lindsey grabbed the glass of water off the coffee table and followed close behind.

"Should we call someone?" Lindsey asked as they stepped into Dani's room.

"Give her an hour or so, if she doesn't come around then we'll have to take her to the hospital." Nico said as he laid her down on the bed. He turned to look at Lindsey and Ray Jay.  
"She's gonna be okay guys, Ray Jay can I ask what you were watching?" He gave Nico a questioning look.

"I know it sounds weird but something triggered this, no one just passes out randomly, we need to figure out why."  
"Um, we had on ESPN, it was just the news." He said with a shrug.

"And what were they talking about?"  
"I don't, they were talking about the Hawks, just rumors about who was looking to buy the team, mostly just stuff about the end of the Pittman era and who was gonna take over."  
"Did they mention Marshall Pittman?" Nico's looked had changed to deadly serious now.

"Yeah, yeah they mentioned him; they showed a picture of him." Nico sighed and sat down on the bed next to Dani.

"Why, is that important?" Lindsey and Ray Jay took a seat on the small loveseat that was situated in the corner.

"It's kind of a long story but, to give you the abridged version, Marshall Pittman caused your mom and I quite a lot of trouble before he, well before he took his life. You're mom hadn't reached those memories yet, I knew they would probably cause a bad reaction, I had wanted to sit down with her tomorrow and talk about it, clearly I was a little late." He glanced back and Dani and sighed.

"So you think her seeing the picture of Marshall Pittman did this?" Lindsey asked.

"I think it triggered those memories for her and that remembering it all at once was to much and her body just shut down."

"So is that good news or bad news?" Ray Jay asked.

"As bad as it sounds it's probably good news, it means it wasn't an issue with her body or anything extreme. Her mind just couldn't handle all those memories and emotions at once so it just turned itself off for a bit."  
"So like how some people are tired after they cry?" Lindsey asked.

"Sort of, she's emotionally drained, her mind is trying to come to terms with everything, it's letting her rest and figure it out."

"So she'll be okay?" She questioned.

"She should be fine, like I said there's no sign of injury, she's breathing fine and her pulse is strong, her mind just got overworked and now it's trying to recoup. Give it about an hour and she should be awake." The kids nodded.

"We should let her rest then." Ray Jay said to Lindsey, she seemed reluctant to leave her mom's side but she nodded.

"Yeah I guess." She rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"You two should go rest, I'll sit with her, and if anything changes I'll come get you." Nico said. The kids nodded and stood. Ray Jay headed to the door but Lindsey walked over to the bed and wrapped Nico in a hug.

"Thank you." She said, Nico hugged her back reassuringly.

"I promise she'll be fine, okay, go take care of yourself now." He said, she nodded and followed Ray Jay out the door.

Nico sighed and turned back to Dani; he took her hand in his and held on tight.

"It's okay to come back Dani; we can get through this together." He said quietly. He watched her eyes move behind her eyelids but she didn't wake up, whatever she was dealing with she wasn't finished yet.

It was almost like watching a movie, but it was strange because she was watching herself. She saw herself talking to Marshall that night he'd showed up at her house, she couldn't really tell what was being said, bits and pieces of the conversation filtered through but she wasn't concerned about what he was saying, just about what was happening. She saw herself opening the door to Nico a few days later, these words she heard clearly 'you're office has been bugged.' Five little words, but they'd caused her so much turmoil. She watched as Nico walked into her office, picked up the lamp on her desk and took the small black device off the bottom of it. She could remember feeling terrified, she asked Nico to leave, she was going to break down and she didn't need an audience. He left her alone to cry that night; she couldn't remember ever feeling to lost before.

The picture wavered and changed, it was daylight now, Nico had brought her copies of the tapes, but they both knew Marshall still had the originals. She asked him to leave again but this time he didn't. He sat down next to her on the sofa in her office and told her that he wouldn't let her down, that he'd find the tapes, that she wasn't alone in this. She could remember turning to look at him and being terrified of what she saw in his eyes, and probably more terrified that she knew that look was mirrored on her face. That was probably the first time she'd realized that maybe Nico wasn't protective of her for no reason, maybe he was protective of her because he had feelings for her. And maybe, just maybe she let him protect her because she had feelings for him too. He left though, as though maybe he'd thought better of the feelings he was showing her, he'd put his walls back in place and walked away. And then she'd cried even more because she'd taken a look behind those walls and she found she loved what she saw but he'd left.

The picture in her mind went dark again and when it came back it was almost like someone had pressed fast forward. She saw herself and Nico and Matt, Coach and Hank all seated in the conference room watching the news about Marshall's disappearance. She saw herself telling Nico that if he was going searching for Marshall then she was coming too, and she did. She could remember driving up to that stupid flea motel outside of the city, she remembered that both she and Nico were so close to breaking that they finally started snapping at each other which was something they'd never done before, maybe jokingly but they'd never seriously been angry at each other. She saw herself sitting down and letting Nico tell her about Marshall, about how Marshall had saved Nico's life, she remembered feeling horrible for him and wanting to hold him but then the phone rang and TK escaping from rehab took precedence.

The picture went blank again and when it returned it was fuzzy, almost as if she was losing the memory, as her mind started to go dark again she caught one last glimpse of herself crying on the back porch, of Nico joining her and telling her that Marshall really was dead and that as a last act he'd sent her the original tapes. Dani knew this was an important memory; she tried as hard as she could to stretch it out, but she was losing it fast. She saw herself hugging him, she heard him say that Marshall was the only one who really knew him, except for her, she'd disagreed with him but he'd told her he was right, that she knew him.  
She wanted to shout at her stupid brain for shutting down now of all times, she needed to know what happened. She had a pretty good feeling she knew already but she wanted validation, so she gathered up as much energy as she could and with one last push she watched herself lean in and kiss Nico and then her mind went blank.

Nico hadn't moved from his spot next to Dani. It had been almost an hour and while she had moved a few times and mumbled things he couldn't make out, she hadn't woken up yet and it was beginning to worry him. He was just about to stand to stretch his legs when finally with a gasping breath Dani woke up. She sat up straight and stared ahead, her eyes unblinking.

"Dani?" He moved into her line of vision and while her eyes settled on his he knew she wasn't really seeing him. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and moved to stand but lost her balance. Nico grabbed her arms to steady her and this time when she looked at him he knew she saw him.

"Hey, Dani, you're alright okay, why don't you just sit down." She shook her head and tried to step forward but he was still holding her arms.

"Nico, there's something I need to do right now, let me go." She looked straight into his eyes as she spoke and he knew without a doubt that she was back. He released her arms and followed close behind as she walked out of the room and down the stairs. As she turned the corner to the kitchen he realized what she was going to do and while he knew he couldn't stop her he would at least try to talk to her.

"Dani, we should really get you back upstairs." She didn't answer, just pushed open the door to her office and strode over to her desk.

"Dani, let's think about this okay." She grabbed the lamp in one hand and yanked the cord from the wall with the other.

"Dani, look at me please." She spun around and tossed the lamp as hard as she could against the wall and watched it break into pieces with a satisfying crash.

Her body, which was tense with anger seconds earlier, now slumped with exhaustion. She'd started to cry again and she didn't object when Nico wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He let her cry, and she did cry, right through the kids coming down to check on them, Nico whispered that she was fine and Lindsey and Ray Jay reluctantly headed back upstairs. Eventually he picked her up and sat down on the sofa, her arms still wrapped around his neck tightly.

"I am so sorry Dani." He whispered as he tried to calm her down. He rubbed her back gently and let his fingers tunnel their way through her hair.

"Sorry for what?" She asked after her tears had calmed.

"For all of this, for the fact that it had to happen in the first place, and that this was how you had to remember it. I wanted to be there, I wanted to talk you through it but I was worried and so I put it off and look what happened." She shook her head and wrapped herself closer to him.

"I don't blame you for any of this." She said quietly, her voice was raw from crying.

"You should."

"It wasn't you're fault, If anyone's at fault here it's Marshall and I can't even really blame him because he was probably going through some kind of psychotic break when all this went down." Nico shook his head.

"I should have stopped him; I should have watched him more carefully, made sure it never happened." Dani shrugged.

"I still don't blame you, you found the bug, you got the tapes back, I am grateful that you did that Nico, I'll never be able to thank you for it, you have no idea how thankful I am." Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her last words.  
"You should get back to bed, I imagine you're quiet exhausted." She nodded and took his hand in hers.

"I know the last few times I asked you to leave but, will you stay with me tonight?" She looked up into his eyes and he knew that even if he wanted to say no, he probably couldn't have with her looking at him that way.

"You're sure?"

She nodded, "I just don't want to be alone right now, please?"

He set her down gently on the floor and let her lead him back upstairs. She was far too tired to bother changing into pajamas so her sweats would have to do for tonight. She lay down and looked over to him as he stood awkwardly beside the bed. She gave a small smile and pulled the covers back.  
"I don't bite, unless you ask nicely." They both laughed for the first time in what felt like a long time. Nico kicked off his shoes and pulled her close to him as he lay down. She fell asleep in seconds but he was content to stay awake for a little while and watch her before he too fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

It was around two am when Nico woke up. The room was still dark and quiet but Dani was no longer next to him. He glanced around the room but didn't see her. He stood and stretched and silently checked all the rooms upstairs but she wasn't there. He made his way downstairs, assuming she was back in her office but he stopped when he saw her form sitting on the bench out back. He stepped up to the door and watched her for a few seconds. She was staring out in front of her but he could tell she wasn't really seeing anything, she was deep in thought.

"Hey, you alright?" She didn't jump when she heard his voice which he found odd; he didn't think he'd made to much noise.

"I am okay, I heard you coming down the steps." She said, turning her face to his and answering his un asked question.

"What are you doing out here?" He walked over and took a seat next to her.

"Just thinking." Her voice was still a bit rough from crying. He didn't ask but she knew he wanted to know what she was thinking about.

"I just feel kind of strange now. I mean, I feel better, more complete now that I know, but I also feel a little weird because I can remember having these feelings before and now I am going through them again for the same reasons. I don't know, it's just a weird feeling." She shrugged her shoulders then turned to look at him.

"I thought you had stuff to do today, how did you get here?"

"Yesterday," He said with a smile, she sighed and nodded.

"Lindsey called me when you passed out, I came as quick as I could." He explained. She sat silent for a while, a thousand thoughts running through her head but she only voiced one.

"Why?"

He looked at her as if she were speaking another language.

"Why?" He said, a bit baffled that she had to ask.

"You remember the conversation we had out here, before you're accident?" She nodded her head.

"That's why." He said simply.

"Okay then, why me?" He was a bit confused but he knew after gaining back the rest of her memories there were a lot of questions she wanted answered and he supposed this just happened to be where she was starting.

"I told you, because you know me."  
"But I don't." She insisted, turning to face him.

"But you can." She furrowed her brow and shook her head, she didn't understand.

"Of all the women I've ever been with, and the list isn't exactly long trust me." She smiled a bit at that.

"You're the only one that I am comfortable letting in."  
"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I have a lot of secrets Dani, I am not an open book, I put up my walls and I close myself off, I know that. And that's how I've always been, with everyone. It's why my first marriage didn't work, there were to many secrets between us." She watched him carefully as he talked.

"But then I met you and for some reason, without my consent or approval, those walls started to crack and break and you pushed you're way in. You know things about me that no one else does and strangely I am okay with that, I am comfortable with it."

"So why me?" Dani asked again.

Nico reached up and cupped her face in his hand; she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"Because you can see behind my walls."

He rested his forehead against hers and she brought a hand up to rest at the base of his neck.

She wasn't as surprised when his lips met hers this time, and the kiss was much more satisfying than the one they'd shared two days ago. She let him wrap an arm around her waist and move her closer and she buried her hands in his hair and held him close until they broke apart to breath.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked, she was a bit out of breath and he smiled at that and nodded.

"I am scared." She said quietly.

"Scared of what?"  
"Of going back to my life, of going back to normal. I am scared I won't know how to start again."

"You will, I know you will. It'll be tricky at first but it'll get easier." He said, he leaned in again and kissed her sweetly.

"Will you help me?" She asked as she pulled back a bit.

"Of course, whatever you need." She shook her head at him and laughed.

"You'll spoil me." He shrugged and kissed her again.

"You deserve to be spoiled." She smiled and held his face gently in her hands.

"I'll never be able to thank you for this, for all of it. For being with me when I didn't remember anything or anyone, for helping me get my life back." He shook his head and leaned in close.

"You don't have to thank me, you changed my life Danielle Santino, I helped you get yours back, we'll call it even." She smiled and let him kiss her again.

She wasn't sure how long they sat on the back porch. They didn't talk much, he held her close and kissed her gently and she'd never felt more happy in her life. Eventually they decided to go back inside, he followed her upstairs without question and the two lay down next to each other again. Nico pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her and she curled up in his embrace. She felt better now, she felt safe and loved and even though she knew there were still small bits of memory she was missing, for the first time in a while, she felt complete.

**- Two months later-**

"Mom, breakfast!" She heard Lindsey shout for her from downstairs. She sat up and glanced at the clock, eight thirty. She sighed and grabbed her robe, wrapping it around her as she left the room. It was going to be another busy day, meetings with Coach in the morning, a session with TK and a few other patients later in the day and then a meeting with a new client before the day was over. She could hear laughter as she reached the bottom of the stairs and she smiled as she walked into the kitchen. Lindsey was sitting at the island, Nico was leaning against the counter and Ray Jay was standing by the stove, trying his best to flip an omelet in the air and catch it again in the pan.

"I told you it's about hand eye coordination Ray Jay." Nico said, Lindsey laughed as the omelet all but missed the pan and landed on the floor.

"If you guys make a mess of my kitchen you're cleaning it up." Dani said, making her presence known.

"Haven't made a mess yet mom." Ray Jay said, as he tried to flip the eggs again.

"I think _yet_ is the word that worries me most." She said. Nico handed her a cup of coffee and pulled her close giving her a quick kiss.

"Morning." He said.

"Good morning, you trying to teach Ray Jay to be Bobby Flay or what?" She asked, nodding at her son, who'd caught the eggs perfectly this time. Lindsey clapped and gave her brother a high five.

"He started it." Nico said with a shrug, Dani shook her head and laughed.

"Alright, eat up, you'll be late for school, come on." The kids ate at record speed then grabbed their things and set off giving goodbyes to both Dani and Nico.

Dani finished off her coffee and smiled at him.

"They love having you around you know."  
"I love being around." He kissed her and took her empty cup.

"Go get ready, the meeting with Coach starts in an hour."

Dani showered and changed and was offered a fresh cup of coffee from Nico when she came back downstairs. She grabbed her purse and followed him out the door and over to his car.

It hadn't taken long for Dani to realize that she'd become a bit dependent on Nico being around. While she wasn't opposed to the idea of him being at the house she also knew he had a life of his own to live and so very slowly she'd gotten used to being on her own again. The idea didn't last very long though and as their relationship moved forward he ended up spending more time with her and the kids anyway. He came over most weekday mornings now, they drove to work together and when their day was done he drove her home again. If she had other patient meetings he dropped her off and went back to his apartment and if she was free the rest of the night he'd stay for dinner and maybe longer if the mood struck him. It wasn't a bad setup and Dani loved having him around, so did the kids. Lately he'd taken to spending the night and a few days ago they'd had the conversation about him getting a 'drawer' at her place. He'd laughed at the cliché-ness of it all but took her up on the offer. Things had been going great for the past two months. Her memory was back in full and she felt wonderfully in control of her life again.

The meeting with coach didn't last too long; it was mostly to introduce the newest member of the front office. Matt had taken a very generous offer six weeks ago and had transferred out to San Francisco. Dani knew it was Nico who started the ball rolling on that one but neither of them talked about it.

After the meeting she headed off to meet with TK. He was almost six months sober now and while he was still finding it difficult sometimes, she couldn't be prouder of the progress he'd made. Their hour session flew by and when they finished she gave him a hug and told him once again how happy she was at the commitment he had and all the changes he'd made.

She spent the rest of the day sitting on the sofa in Nico's office filling out patient files and catching up on her work.

When four o'clock rolled around they left together

"So, you're new patient?" Nico asked as he pulled up to her house.

"You know I can't tell you anything." She said with a laugh.

"Yeah I know, I just know it's you're first new patient since, well since you got your memory back. You nervous?" He asked.

"Not really, I think it'll be good, getting back in the saddle." He smiled and nodded.

"Well have fun." He leaned in and kissed her and she smiled, it hadn't taken her long to get used to this.

"I'll call you when we finish." She said.

"Then I guess I'll see you later." He kissed her one last time and then watched her walk up to her house. She waved at him before she went inside and he waved back, she smiled and shut the door behind her.

A half hour later she was standing in her office waiting for her newest client. She glanced behind her at her desk and smiled. She'd gotten a new lamp, it felt cathartic and it made her feel much more comfortable. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was back to normal now, she was back to work, in a comfortable relationship with a man she loved, her kids were doing well, her life was stable again, it was an amazing feeling.

She smiled as she heard the knock at the door; she walked over and opened it, giving her newest client a warm welcome.

She took a seat in her chair and listened closely as the client explained why they were there. She had no doubt in her mind that she could help them; it was her job after all. While she'd forgotten it for a short time she could remember now. She smiled at the client as they finished talking and nodded.

"Well alright then, let's get to work."

**~ Fin**

* * *

**The end!  
I have to thank you all for sticking with me for so long, for continuing to love and review the story, it really means the world to me. I do love our little Danico family so I am giving you all a big hug now, thanks so much for everything!  
This probably won't be the last time you hear from me, I am sure I'll be visiting the NR community again soon.  
Again, thanks so much for everything, I hope you enjoyed the ending, send in some reviews and let me know.  
Much love to you all! :D**


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